anyone homeschooling in costa rica?

[Martha]

ever curious as dh is constantly nagging me about it after every business trip there.

[Renee in FL]

ever curious as dh is constantly nagging me about it after every business trip there.
No, but I would LOVE to!

[Melinda in VT]

My DH also talked a bit about moving there after our vacation.

[Claire]

What is it about Costa Rica that is so appealing? Haven't been there, would like to go, but meanwhile......

[Dayle in Guatemala]

homeschool in Guatemala. Costa Rica is beautiful, most of what I've seen of Central America is!

Do you have specific questions? Maybe I could help you out with them?

[Claire]

It just seems to me that beautiful scenery is not enough to make a place wonderful for living. I love nature, but I also like my dishwasher, bookstores, etc. Just wondering what else Costa Rica has going for it besides scenery and weather. (I lived in Southeast Asia for seven years, so maybe that colors my perspective. There was lots of nice scenery, great people, but no English language books anywhere and very limited resources for many food items, clothing, etc.)

[Laura Corin]

You may find that the book situation has improved since you last lived abroad. Amazon ships overseas, for example......

Best wishes

Laura

[Sue in St Pete]

This is what makes it wonderful:
They have the highest literacy rate in the Americas (I could be wrong, but I'm close)
The people are friendly and intelligent and educated
It's among the greenest countries on earth (environmentally)
The food is simple and healthy and fresh
The turtles, volcano, beaches, national parks, cloud forest

[Martha]

what sue said plus the cost of living is great there compared to here - sorta

clothes and books and technology are outragiously expensive (cheap demin jeans for kids for example are about $50- $75!) However, we could ship ours with us and do just fine. most of the expats there come "home" tot he USA about twice a year to shop or have family that live here and ship them what they want.

but other things like fresh food and homes are far cheaper for LOTS more and the work ethic and attitude is much better. no 9 - 5 work until you drop employment attitudes. it's very much a "work to live NOT live to work" environment. My dh's salary here qualifies us for state assistance, but down there the same salary we'd get double the size home with maid service and be able to have a savings account.

besides all that, I do think travel is a great learning experience, but on our finances we really can't do much. so this would be a great opportunity for that.

Dayle - what would you say was the most difficult adjustments to living there? if you were living the us to live there for at least 5+ years, what would you advise to make the transition smoother?

[Claire]

I had heard that it's very difficult for someone who is not a citizen there to get a work permit, though.

[Laura Corin]

I had heard that it's very difficult for someone who is not a citizen there to get a work permit, though.

But there are sometimes ways around this. We are in China on 'business visas'. DH is employed in Hong Kong, but our visits to Mainland China are on the long side. We are not doing anything illegal, just using the visa options that are available to us...

Laura

[Volty]

I had heard that it's very difficult for someone who is not a citizen there to get a work permit, though.

I can't speak to Costa Rica but in China to get a work visa, all you need is round eyes, a passport, and a pulse.

Actually, I'm not sure you need round eyes.

[A home for their hearts]

what sue said plus the cost of living is great there compared to here - sorta

clothes and books and technology are outragiously expensive (cheap demin jeans for kids for example are about $50- $75!) However, we could ship ours with us and do just fine. most of the expats there come "home" tot he USA about twice a year to shop or have family that live here and ship them what they want.

but other things like fresh food and homes are far cheaper for LOTS more and the work ethic and attitude is much better. no 9 - 5 work until you drop employment attitudes. it's very much a "work to live NOT live to work" environment. My dh's salary here qualifies us for state assistance, but down there the same salary we'd get double the size home with maid service and be able to have a savings account.

besides all that, I do think travel is a great learning experience, but on our finances we really can't do much. so this would be a great opportunity for that.

Dayle - what would you say was the most difficult adjustments to living there? if you were living the us to live there for at least 5+ years, what would you advise to make the transition smoother?

I'm assuming since your dh takes business trips there the company he is working for would allow him to move there? I think that would be the only way I would consider moving to Costa Rica. You've got to rememeber that Costa Rica is a third world country, and most of the people there live in poverty. The average monthly income is about $300. My dh is from central america and we lived in Costa Rica for about a year. We barely were able to make ends meet. We constantly had to borrow money from our parents just to put food on the table. You've got to realize what you might be lossing in our to live in the 'paradise'. I hate to say this, but we lived in San Jose, the capital, and I didn't think that there was anything special about it! We weren't close to the beach, we never even got the chance to go to one. You need to think that you view, or your dh view, of this country may be a little one sided. What tourist see of a place when they go to visit, is very different from what life is actually like there. I'm not saying Costa Rica isn't a wonderful place to live for some people, but you really need to give this some thought. I would liken it to falling in love, sure in the beginning your boyfriend can do no wrong, but after awhile you start to see that he isn't perfect either.
Just my 2 cents :)

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Dayle - what would you say was the most difficult adjustments to living there? if you were living the us to live there for at least 5+ years, what would you advise to make the transition smoother?

Well, we brought down certain things that helped: books that we liked, music that we loved, movies we loved, games and toys that the dc enjoyed. We also were able to get them involved when we got here in something that they enjoyed and that helped a lot.

But, I think the thing that made the difference was home schooling. It gave them the feeling that really nothing has changed all that much, we still do school, we still have our family time, we still hang out together. That was what made it for us.

We've lived here for 2 1/2 years now and have been back to the US only once for one month in all that time. It feels like home here. The most difficult things to adjust to were: the mindset of the Guatemalans is so different than the mindset I'm used to (I can elaborate more if you need me to), the language barrier, shopping in open market for everything and learning the "real" prices so I don't keep getting ripped off! (now I love the market), realizing that the cost of living here isn't much different than back in the US and how to make that work for us on a missionary budget:eek:, trying to keep my house clean (it really is dirtier here--you can't begin to imagine), and the way they throw garbage everywhere.

But, like I said, now it's home. I still have a hard time getting used to the way they think, but, I understand it now. We all speak Spanish and that helps a lot. I love shopping the market (when it isn't market day which resembles WalMart the day after Thanksgiving). And although I can't get used to garbage everywhere, I'm working at helping my neighbors understand that throwing things where ever you want is the reason you can't drink the water, the reason there is disease, and the reason that their fields aren't producing as much as they could. It's an uphill climb on that one!

If you have any questions, you can PM me and I'd be glad to answer them for you!