Homestays

Doing a Homestay, although not of the traditional type where you stay with a random family, was probably my best decision to getting off the ground. Staying with a family in Costa Rica was extremely helpful in terms of learning the language and culture. I wanted to know the culture and ensure that I could go on living in Costa Rica without offending anyone of becoming just another Gringo. Living with my wonderful family I learned about their political views, opinions about people from where I come from, as well as religion, which is a subject that must be greatly respected in this country. Saying grace, and prayer are vital for those wanting to fit in with a typical family. This was new to me, and took a while to get used to, but in the end became one of the customs that I liked most about Costa Ricans.

What City is the Right City?

This is a difficult question to answer and depends on the type of person you are. Before moving to Costa Rica, I had the choice to choose between moving to a modern city where lots of English speaking people lived, or a rural town where I would find it near to impossible to find someone to communicate with in either of my native languages (French and English). In the end I chose the rural town of Barva de Heredia, and I have never once regretted my choice. In this wonderful town I have had to chance to meet the most wonderful people who have always been ready to lend a helping hand. Although we had a major language barrier, I found that this was the single biggest factor in my learning Spanish. I never took classes, as Barva itself was going to be all the language classes I would ever need.

In the end, I get the be the Barva Gringo, instead of just another Gringo living in a city that already has way to many Gringos according to Costa Ricans. Also, I feel like they respect me more for choosing to live with "common folk" rather than the upscale snooty crowd. Again, this is my personal experience and was what I was looking for in moving to Costa Rica.

Costa Rica - Moving In

One of the most common questions I've been asked is how did you do it? How did you move to a country where the culture, food and most importantly, language is so different? Well, I had a master plan, and looking in retrospect, must admit, was pretty well executed. I will layout this plan in details in the coming weeks.

If I had to come up with the single most important action to settle in comfortably in Costa Rica, it would be moving in with a local family, and listen carefully, because this is the key point, moving in with a family that doesn't speak any of the languages that you speak. This will ensure you go on the fast track to dealing with the language barrier. Starting a business in any country will require you to master the native language. How long should you stay with this family? I would say at least two months. By the end of the two months, you will be speaking well enough to have complete conversations. Where can you find a family to live with? I suggest looking online for homestays in the country you will starting your new company in. You can usually find a homestay for around $250 USD a week, and includes all meals. You should do this no matter your financial situation.

Why Costa Rica?

Now that I had my Plan B taken care of, the next step would be deciding where in the World I would go. I thought about going to Africa, and had actually decided to go to Morocco, however destiny would interfere and I would end up going to visit my friend in Costa Rica prior to my departure for Africa. The love affair that ensued with Costa Rica was instant and I immediately changed my mind about going to Africa. Costa Rica's nature truly blew me away. Coming from an isolated town in Canada, what I liked even more than the weather was the proximity of everything in Costa Rica. I could drive from the Pacific to the Atlantic in five hours! I could not believe this! Also, with 11 different micro climates, I was able to see what I considered to be 10 countries worth of things, in a week trip. The decision at this point was an easy one, Costa Rica would be my destination, now the hard part was to follow; what the heck am I going to do to make that oh so important $$$.

IT ALL STARTED WITH PLAN B

I must have heard it a million times in my lifetime; "I'm going to leave everything behind and start a new adventure". But I must admit, I have seldom ever seen it done. I was one of those people, however, I wanted to make sure I came through. The first step was having a solid plan B, so I went to teachers college, got a degree and became a teacher. This way, I would have something to fall back on if my adventure didn't end up working out OK. I taught a couple of years, and padded my resume, and eventually got to the point where I knew I would get hired quickly if I ever returned to Canada. This my friends, is how I was able to eventually leave everything behind and chase a dream, my dream.