Breaking News: Life is Different in Costa Rica

Okay, so it's not really breaking news. It should come as no surprise to you that life is different here in San Jose, Costa Rica than it was in the States. There are many things that are different for many different reasons. I thought you might appreciate it if I shared some random, not-so-obvious ones (for example, the fact that they speak a different language should be an obvious one) with you:

Gates and locks and barbed wire oh my

I carry a key ring with 5 keys on it. And I don't even have a car. We have:

• 2 keys to enter and exit our front entrance (a wooden door and a gate)
• 2 keys to enter and exit our back entrance (a wooden door and a gate)
• 1 key to enter and exit the gates around Cincel's property

This means that we have to unlock and re-lock at least 3 locks every time we leave or return home. And this is not just because we're Americans living in Costa Rica. Everyone around here has gates and most also have barbed wire around their properties.

We have plumbing and toilet paper, but...

...we cannot flush it here. Toilet paper goes in the trash.

Addresses are a little more complex

In the States, addresses consist of a street name and street number, but that is not how addresses work here. While they recently started putting up signs with street names, none of the locals know them and it's not how addresses are given. Addresses consist of directions based on distances, descriptions and landmarks. When I take a taxi home, here is the address I give the driver:

Carretera a Zapote, de la Sede Lechera 250 metros norte, 100 oeste y 100 sur, edificio color crema a la par de un play.

While we have a post office box for mail, this is also the address that goes on any package sent through FedEx. It's not merely directions, it's our address!

What's the date today?

They don't write the date the same here as how we write it back home. Back home we write it as month, day, year. Here we write it as day, month, year. Today in Costa Rica the date is 13/1/14. This is hard to remember when filling out paperwork.

My pockets are heavier and make more noise

The currency in Costa Rica is colones. Many things cost 1 mil or more, which works out because 1 mil ($2) is the lowest denomination of bank notes. Everything lower is coins. As a result, coins are used a lot more often here. Basically, imagine if we only had coins instead of bills for $1 in the States. Imagine how much more change you would carry. This is our new reality.

There is a lot of newness here, but we love and embrace these changes. They are part of our new normal.