Finally made it to San jose, the capital of Costa Rica and the beginning of my trip at International Living's Fast Track Costa Rica Conference. I thought it would be a good way to learn about the country since the conference is geared to people who want to move permanently to the country, ex-pats by name. Around 400 attendees mostly older and retired or close to it. Some looking to stretch their fixed retirement income further, some looking for a simpler lifestyle, Some looking to purchase a second home or a vaccation rental, and some disgruntled Americans wanting to get away from the politics of big government.
Costa Rica is a democracy without a military. Costa Ricans are well educated and progressive regardiing educaation, social issues and conservation. They are welcoming towards Americans who come both as tourists and permanennt residents who enjoy all the rights of citizens except the right to vote. The cost of living is not as low as I expected since there is a very high tariff on anything inported, which is almost everything except local produce. You can get anything you want at a mercado, it just costs a lot ($7.00 USD for peanutbutter).
I had a day after the conference so I went downtown with my friend Ron and we got a brief tour from Suzie who he met while in the Miami airport for a day. She has relocated from New York City to San jose. She lives just a couple of blocks from a cigar store where I was able to get a few Cubans, the Havana Humidor. It is located in Little Havana Hotel which is a hotel and brothel. I found out Cubans are available but are very expensive since they are subject to thte same heavy import tax.
Most Costa Rica tour books reccommend tourists not spend any time in San Jose since it is smoggy and crowded with cars and busses and not especially attractive. Theft of property is a problem and there is not much to do besides the National Theater and the gold and jade museums. We went to the cigar store and the Museo do Oro.
