Expats in Costa Rica: Culture Shock

1. You know about culture shock, right?

   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Not to be confused with Culture Club, one of the best bands in the world.

   
   
   
   

   

   I dare you to listen to Time (Clock of the Heart) and try to hate it.  See, you can't!
   
   
   
   Culture shock is the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, a move between social environments, or simply travel to another type of life. 

You can do research all day, watch hours of Discovery Channel documentaries, pore over all your aunt's travel photo albums, follow Rick Steves religiously, and still not be prepared for what you find the first time you visit a new country.  As I found out.  Your mileage may vary.

Top 3 Culture Shocks for this expat in Costa Rica:

3.  Baking Soda is sold in dime bags.

I use baking soda for everything: cooking, cleaning, personal care - everything.  For weeks, I scanned shelves at the mercados looking for a box of bicarbonate de sodio.

Instead, I found this:

This is a 15 gram bag of baking soda, and it costs 405 colones, or about 80 cents.

I'm used to buying a giant bag at the warehouse store for pennies a pound - or in a pinch, a 16-ounce box at the grocery store for about 3 bucks.

Looks like I'll need to tweak some recipes.

2.  TP goes in the basket, not the bowl.  

This was in our bathroom in Orosi.  Hey, don't laugh.  Her English is way better than my Spanish.

To paraphrase our lovely Escazu hostess Liza, Costa Rican plumbing is delicate and must be treated gently like a baby.

I guessing aging rural septic systems, maybe?  I just don't want to be the one who trows paper in the toilet and causes an international incident, so I put the paper in the basket.

Generally, the baskets have lids and are emptied daily.  I got over it within a day or two.  It's really not that big a deal, and surely extends the life of an expensive-to-upgrade infrastructure.

1.  "Suicide Showers"

This is where culture shock could become an actual electrical shock.

At first I was like, "Oh hell no! I'll just be stinky! I'm not about to die naked in some stranger's bathroom!"

And then I got over it (after Husband went first and lived).  Electric shower head heaters are used safely all over Latin America every day, and they work fine (most of the time).

The water is heated just as it comes out, eliminating the need for a giant energy-hogging hot water tank.

It saves energy, water, and space, and I'm mostly ok with it now.

Mainly, though, it made me realize that hot water is a first world luxury, and I'm lucky to have access to it at all.  Hot water does not necessarily come standard in Tica/o houses.

And The Moral of the Story Is …

The way I've done certain things my whole life isn't the only way, or necessarily the right way.

Part of the point of traveling is to have new experiences, and if you want to enjoy your travels, it helps to be flexible and open-minded.

Also?  There's no substitute for Culture Club!

When have you experienced culture shock?  Let me know in the comments!