Will Citizenship Add Coolness to My Already Astonishing Life in Costa Rica?

I've been arguing with myself for over a year about pursuing citizenship here in Costa Rica. I've put in the time, which is 7 years, why not get something for it?

 

There are a lot of benefits, such as drastically lower health ins. premiums (like so low they fall into my budgetary noise), a free 10-year cedula, easier banking, ability to leave CR and return at will and return of my $200 residency security deposit.

I've also been told by those who have gone this path before that many everyday transactions that involve use of ID become somehow easier because you are no longer a foreign contaminant in the eyes of Ticos, especially those that control various process gateways. Doors open that swung with difficulty before and the wheels of bureaucracy in general suddenly present less friction if you are perceived as "normal." Those benefits are rather intangible to me at the moment.

And, of course, one mustn't overly discount the "coolness" factor of having dual citizenship and that inoffensive passport when visiting certain places disagreeable to the latest U.S. meddling around the world.

One drawback that I was hung up on for a while was the name change thing.

Christmas Letter Home from Costa Rica

Holiday Greetings Friends and Family!

We miss you all and send you best wishes for Christmas and New Year's Day.

We see that western Oregon had a pretty good snow storm yesterday. There was even snow on the beach. Cool! Aside from the icy roads that often follow snow there that is my favorite kind of winter weather especially when followed by sunny sub-freezing weather and clear, starry nights.

It's raining here at the moment. The rainy days are tapering off now, however, as our "winter" aka green season aka emerald season is drawing to a close on the south Pacific side of Costa Rica. We had just 9 inches of rain last month. Maybe that sounds like a lot to you, but the month before ran about 25 inches. A typical rainy season here in this part of the country can bring down from 150 to 200 inches of rain from May through December.

Poinsettia in our backyard

The rain pattern is qualitatively different here than in the Pacific Northwest too. We have sunny skies until about noon give or take. Then the clouds roll in and it rains an hour or two or, less often, several hours or very rarely two or three days. When the rain is drizzly, I call it an "Oregon day", but It often rains hard too. Recall the hardest rain you've ever experienced in Oregon and double it. That hard.

Summer is just around the corner now. The rains will stop completely for three to four months. There might be a few showers, but you can't count on it. The temps go up, but no higher than 90 here on the mountain. Outside work will shift to early mornings when it's cooler. We know it's Christmas time, though, as our poinsettia is in full color. 

[Motmot video below the fold]

In Costa Rica When Does Now Mean Now?

The puzzle of cultural differences

There are many cultural quirks in Costa Rica that, for lack of a better word, I'll label Tiquismos. Recently, I blundered upon a linguistic one. Specifically, it is the expression of "now" and its true meaning. If you have spent any time in Latin America, you know what I mean by "true meaning."

My first heavy exposure to on-the-ground Spanish was in México where I spent many months totally squandering my early 20s. The following table shows how the concept of "now" is expressed there:

Mexican Spanish for "now"

You see in the table the translation of each expression along with the fuzzy cultural meaning. If you were to ask when something was to be done of a Mexican, you would likely here all three of these expression in succession throughout the day. Hey, a lot could have changed since I was in México last, 30+ years ago, but I think still, fundamentally, our Mexican neighbors (outside D.F. anyway) are not in a big hurry to do anything.

I have been happily going through life here in Costa Rica the last few years using these Mexican expression for "now." That is, until my polite neighbor and friend Luis finally took the time to clue me in. Here in Costa Rica, the same expressions are turned on their heads (patos arriba as they would say). Notice how the 3x3 table above turns into a 2x2 table when speaking Costa Rican Spanish.

Costa Rican Spanish for "now"

The third row goes away because ahora, in Tico, is equivalent to Mexico's "ahorrita mismo." The latter phrase could have no meaning in Costa Rican Spanish. It would be confusing as hell to express: "really really some indefinite time in the future." 

The disappearance of the third column - and other Costa Rican expats are free to disagree - is based on my experience that when Ticos say now they mean now. Not with quite the same obsessive urgency as we Protestant-bred Type A personalities would use it in the States, but for the most part they are a punctual people. Of course, there are individual exceptions everywhere in the world.

If Ticos can't do something ahorrita or ahora, they usually tell you so that you don't get false expectations. That wouldn't be polite and respectful. This Costa Rican tendency to not disappoint is the basis for another Tiquismo, which I write about in another post.

That's all ... for now.