After a while “in training to be a Tico” I have come to realize that, when you have a house in Costa Rica, there are certain items that you are almost required to have to be a real Costa Rica homeowner, or least prove that you are living the Tico lifestyle. It is part of the necessities of the area, small details that are not included in any Costa Rica real estate guide or listing, small thing you didn’t think you would need until the time came for you to find it out.
The first thing you find out is that in Costa Rica, mosquitoes come out in evening and when they come out they are hungry and you are fresh blood. Bug repellent might be kind of awkward, but there are also ambiance repellents, make sure you get some of both.
While you are at it, in the supermarket they also have the two main ingredients for a regular Costa Rica meal: rice and beans; you will need these especially if you like to invite your friends over, they will always expect these two legumes to be part of the meal. To cook any Costa Rica traditional meal you will need Salsa Lizano, it is a cheap home made sauce found anywhere, quite tasty if I may add. Fruits and vegetables are bought at La Feria as I explained in previous posts, so you will need your own shopping cart to run this errand.
While in the US, we are more used to wearing slippers at home, let’s remember that Costa Rica tropical weather is warm, for this matter Ticos wear flip flops, yet they call them chinelas. Costa Rica homes do have lots of windows, but if your home doesn’t have air conditioning you will need to get fans for every room.
When it comes to having guests, there are certain items that in Costa Rica are well known: Imperial beer, Guaro Cacique and Tapa de Dulce, these are regular beverages of the area, be careful with the Guaro, since it is basically industrially distilled moonshine. As per snacks, there are many delicious items: pejibayes, deviled eggs and home made dipping souces are always part of the deal, yet my favorite one is the Yuca, which you can make deep fried or just boiled, either way, it is one of Costa Rica’s most tasty meals. In Costa Rica, home owners always take care of their yards and the land is very rich, so if you have any fruit trees take good care of them, because whatever grows on them, you will consume. And don’t forget the Chorreador, although you will find coffee makers anywhere, Costa Rica coffee tastes better if it is made in a chorreador.
One of the nicest perks you get from living in Guanacaste is the fact that you can be surrounded by the most characteristic Costa Rica traditions and experience each one of them at their best. Since Guanacaste is still a rural area in spite of the fast development that has been going through for the past years, people still keep their values and traditional activities, which something very admirable.
Among my favorite traditions I can mention the typical dances: Costa Rica dance is actually very colorful and joyful, they have a designated outfit to dance with which resembles the outfits used by agricultures of the yester years, I got so impressed with this that even bought myself a “chonete” which is some sort of hat they used to work under the sun. The main they dance is called “Punto Guanacasteco” and is very delightful and funny, the song has many bridges where the music stops and people say some sort of rhymes they call “bombas”, I can’t really understand them much but after they finish the rhyme everyone laughs and continues dancing. Costa Rica is a very artistic country, so all of these performances are very well thought and practiced; also they are a very big part of Costa Rica culture.
Necessary items to dance “El Punto Guanacasteco”
Now, my second favorite thing is of course food. Costa Rica has one of the richest soils in America, so they grow many different types of legumes and vegetables. One of the most incredible dishes I have tasted is the “picadillo”, the picadillo is a dish made with chopped vegetables, three types tops, ground beef and local spices: just delicious! Specially with a very refreshing “agua dulce”, trust me you cannot top that.
Another good thing is watching the cattle pass by, Guanacaste has many cattle farms and to be honest, I never thought that watching cattle pass by could be so relaxing. Costa Rica has many different things worth to experience; so far I am happy that I have taken my time to get to know everything slowly.
If you wonder about one of the nicest and most impressive things about Costa Rica: food. Since Costa Rica is one the country with most cultural diversity due to the many immigrants from all over the world, Costa Rica cuisine is something worth to explore when coming here. Not only it is possible to actually food from all over the world, but also the regular tico dishes have interesting twists due to the variety of nationalities involved. A traditional Costa Rican recipe can also be found to have a whole different way to be prepared from town to town, meaning that you can never taste the same thing twice while visiting and that makes the whole trip even better if you ask me.
In Costa Rica, food prices vary depending on your location and what type of ingredients you need. The main ingredients on any typical meal are rice and beans: you will need them for your gallo pinto in the morning or for your casado at lunch. Traditional Costa Rican food has lots of vegetables like chayotes and vainicas, they also use lots of carrots, corn and potatoes; most of these ingredients will be combined on a huge pot with steamed beef and it will create a killer Olla de Carne which is a very delicious soup.
One of my favorite things to have for breakfast is the Tortilla de queso: a huge corn tortilla filled with home made cheese fried on a regular comalito that, from what I’ve seen is an iron flat pan that has made too many tortillas, that’s probably where the flavor comes from. Costa Rica also has many international choices; you can find a Thai food restaurant as easy as finding a grocery store. People in Costa Rica know food and they eat everything from sushi to kosher food, Brazilian rodizio or Turkish dishes and they all know how to eat it and where it comes from. This is a side of Costa Rica culture that amazes me; they like to learn everything, very well educated people.
If you are coming here, do not worry about finding a nice place to eat, Costa Rica has plenty of choices for every taste, yet, my experience has taught me that it is nicer to come and try traditional meals, one of the many beauties Costa Rica has to offer.
After a while experiencing the wonders of moving to Costa Rica, agriculture has become kind of a hobby of mine. It is quite amazing to see how rich the soil is in this country, you can easily have all kinds of herbs and spices right on your backyard. When moving to Costa Rica, agriculture, food prices and even the culinary culture is a complete different world worth to learn and understand.
In Costa Rica, population increases depending on the location, in San Jose and some head cities of Alajuela and Heredia, they have some sort of street market every weekend called “La feria del agricultor”. Once you move here, you will see that Costa Rica food prices are actually quite cheap, and also, in Costa Rica, agriculture is one of the main economic activities.
At “La Feria” you can get the freshest products available: anything from a simple onion to different kinds of tomatoes and even home made cheese. In Costa Rica, food culture is wide and quite healthy; fruits are a big part of Costa Rican diets and legumes and vegetables are on the tables of every home, every day, is just how Costa Rica culture behaves.
The key to a successful trip to La Feria is getting there early, and I mean early as in the crack of dawn. That way you can be sure you will get the best of the best. Getting used to Costa Rica food is actually easy, and a lot better for an old guy like me and the fresher the products you buy are, the easier it is to get accustomed to some of the flavors. When moving to Costa Rica, culture may be a bit of a shock but is worth to learn it.
La feria del agriculture will take place near your home if you live in one the big towns. I have visited three so far: Plaza Viquez Feria, Zapote’s Feria and Guadalupe’s. The nicest one is Plaza Viquez’, but the easiest to visit is Zapote since it takes place on a big area and the vendors are better arranged. Many of the products can be found downtown as well as in the Costa Rica Coasts.Even on the Costa Rica volcano areas you will be able to find a big variety of products like cajetas, dulce de leche and grape fruits.
One good piece of advice is, if you are considering checking on real estate, agriculture, culture and even easy access to markets, such as La Feriashould become part of your research. You need to make sure you will be able to find nice markets and butcher shops nearby, not always the best product are found in the supermarket. In Costa Rica, real estate agents are mostly savvy in the matter, don’t be afraid to ask.
