Diapositiva 1

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Customs Living Information
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Hygiene
Showers Hot Water Costa Ricans bath at least
once a day, more often if they become sweaty,
Someone that does not bathe daily is considered
unclean. Most houses do not have hot running
water. Many houses have an in-line heater for
the shower. This is a small electrical heater in
the shower pipe with coils that heat the water as
it passes through. The heating coil is turned on
by a hand-thrown, fuse-box-like switch that is
normally located in the shower. There is normally
a temperature control on the heater for hot,
warm, cold. The warm setting seems to work the
best and this is what most houses will have it
set at. Slowing the flow of water makes the
water warmer. Speeding it up makes it colder.
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Food and Meals
Costa Rican food is mild compared to Mexican
food. The basic staple of the diet is rice and
beans. It is not unusual to have rice and beans
at all three meals of the day. Chicken is the
most common meat. Beef is also served. Most
dishes are quite good, although different from
what you are probably used to. There are
however, many things such as eggs or cereal for
breakfast that you will find the same. Costa Rica
has many fruits such as mangos, guava, papaya,
small sweet bananas, and other that you probably
will not be used to. Try them, you may find that
you like them, as well as the juices made from
them.
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Food and Meals
Drinking Water The water is safe to drink in the
cities and the beach where you will be staying.
Do not drink water from a stream even if you see
Costa Ricans do it. Do not drink water from an
open well or a well with a hand-pump unless you
know it is safe.
Drinks Fruit juices are often served with meals.
In a warm climate, you will find them more
refreshing than soda. Agua de pipa (coconut juice
in the shell) is a popular road-side drink in
Guanacaste and Puntarenas. You drink it directly
from the shell with a straw.
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Family
Costa Ricans are very family oriented. It is
common for parents and grandparents to live
together with children, or at least live very
close by. Families regularly get together and do
things with relatives. Friends and guests become
part of the family. When you are taken to your
host familys house, the will say Está en su
casa You are in your house. They mean it.
You are a member of the family.
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Religion
The vast majority of people in Costa Rica are
Roman Catholics. Almost all houses have
religious artifacts in prominent display. It is
not uncommon to see people making the sign of the
cross as they pass in front of a church.
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Body Contact
In Costa Rica, as in Latin cultures in general,
body contact is much more common than other
countries. A hug is a common greeting between
friends of either sex. A hug with a kiss on the
cheek is normal between friends of the opposite
sex. Do no pull away or feel embarrassed when
someone gives a hug.
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Tico Time
In Latin American the clock does not rule peoples
lives. There is a much more relaxed sense of
time and for most things, you are on time if
you are within 15 minutes for a social
appointment. This is expected. You should not be
surprised if scheduled events do no happen on
time. Unless a time is said to be en punto
(exactly), it is an approximate time. The one
time that is exact, is the time for the flight
home. Airlines run reasonably on schedule.
Busses may or may not be on time.
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Change in Plans
In Costa Rica, as in much of Latin America, a
plan is like an idea. Something you want to do,
but no something set in concrete. Do not be
surprised when plans change. They do all the
time in Costa Rica. What you thought was going to
happen a week, a day or even an hour before may
not be what is going to happen. Plans change
constantly, and often without much warning. This
is normally done to try to fit something in that
you would not otherwise be able to do. Do not be
upset by this. It is part of the culture. It is
best to just go with the flow.
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Daylight Hours
It is normally light from 530 a.m. to 530 p.m.
Darkness approaches very fast. By 600 p.m. it
will normally be totally dark. Be careful not to
find yourself out on a trail at twilight without
a flashlight
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Beaches
There are strong rip tides, undertows, and tidal
currents at many beaches. Never swim where
people are fishing. Where there are fish, there
is a chance that there will be sharks also.
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Money
The currency in Costa Rica is the Colon. There
are coins in 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500
denominations. Notes come in 1000, 2000, 5000
and 10 000 denominations.
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Time and dates
Time On schedules, time is often written using
the 24 hour clock. A period is used to separate
hours from minutes, e.g. 1530 is 330
p.m. Dates In Costa Rica, as in almost all of
the rest of the world, dates are normally
represented the form day-month-year rather than
month-day-year 12-5-95 is the 12th of May 1995,
not the 5th of December 1995. To avoid
confusion, spell out the month
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Temperature
Temperature The Centigrade scale is used for
temperature. The following approximate points
are good ones to remember 0 C. Freezing
32 F. 10 C. Cold 50 F. 20 C. Nice 68
F. 25 C. Very nice 77 F. 30
C. Warm 86 F. 35 C. Hot 95 F. 40 C. Very Hot
104 F.
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Weather
The weather in the Central Valley ranges between
60º F. and 80º F. year-round. In the evenings,
it is often cool enough to wear a sweater or wind
breaker. In the dry season (November-March),
rain is unlikely except in a rain/cloud
forest. On the beach, temperatures are normally
between 80º and 100º F. You should avoid being
in the sun during the hottest part of the day.
Always use sun screen when out in the sun, at
least a 15. The suns rays are much more direct
and you will burn much faster. In the mountains
it can freeze at night. The cold, dampness, and
wind near the top of mountains and volcanoes can
make you feel very cold. Hypothermia is a
possibility. In the rain forest, it rains every
day, even in the dry season.
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Addresses
In Costa Rica and most Spanish speaking
countries, addresses are different. They do not
use streets and house numbers for addresses.
Unless they have a post office box (apartado), a
postal address is givens a set of directions from
some commonly known point in the town. Address
commonly have the form The big white house that
many meters (south, east, west, or north) from
church, store or tavern (named such and such),
and so many meters in this other direction.