El Presidente is a great place to people watch - but that may change since they shut down their popular News Cafe.
A tip (also called a gratuity) has always been a special thanks to a server for good service. Such payments and their size are a matter of social custom and etiquette and usually are around 10% plus of the total bill. Tipping varies among cultures and by service industry.
In Costa Rica, those that provide services in restaurants and bars or unskilled labor make less than $2/hr (more like $1/hr if not less) – so tipping becomes a major source of income. Restaurants and bars are allowed, by law, to add 10% to the check as a “propina” (tip). The 10% is then suppose to be divided between the restaurant waiters and bar staff, and in some cases, bus boys and kitchen workers, which in many cases that money is much greater than the base salary.
Like Mexico and other countries, Costa Rica’s restaurant and bars owners have always added a 10% on top of the bill. Unfortunately, this money has always had scrutiny because it somehow is not divided equal among the workers – the owners are the ones that retain the largest percentage. Read more... (742 words, 4 images, estimated 2:58 mins reading time)
Swine Flu is slowly surrounding and is it targeting Costa Rica?
Well, you knew it was going to happen, and it did. Personally, I would have bet on Guatemala or Nicaragua claiming the first case. But Central America’s Costa Rica confirmed its first case of swine flu in a 21-year-old Costa Rican woman who returned to San Jose from Mexico.
Hours before the case was confirmed, assembly president Francisco Antonio Pacheco asked legislators to avoid handshake and kissing greetings. Costa Rica’s general public is being asked to up their hygienic measures and avoid body contact and kissing.
Hummm … no kissing … that not going to go over well in a country whose Faux Pas is embracing, and what about the adult industry, which the country is so well-known for. Another, interesting hummm! Is Pacheco now going to require full rubber suits for its prostitutes?
According to Costa Rica’s Health Minister Maria Luisa Avila, the patient “is not in danger.” so what does this tell us? Well, I hope Costa Rica’s media is not like CBS who help increase paranoia by four reporters this week on this “threatening disease” that is sure to turn into a @&%# pandemic! Read more... (657 words, 1 image, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)
Sunbathing Topless - Not Cool on a Public Beach
Like any country there is respect with the culture and Costa Rica in no different. Faux pas varies from country to country, but in Costa Rica modesty, politeness, good manners, and common courtesy are the main keys. Even if you do not speak Spanish, learn to say, Buenos Dias (Good Morning) and Muchas Gracias (thank you) and you will see a world of difference. Costa Ricans call themselves, Ticos (TEE-kos).
The number one term in Costa Rican is slang “Pura Vida” (Pure Life) and you will hear it all the time – so when a foreigner says it, automatically they get the thumbs up. Costa Ricans are usually very polite, quick to shake hands or place a kiss on someone´s cheek. They have a very high literary rate because schooling is required, so they speak formal Spanish. If you speak Spanish, do not use the the form of “tu”, since they consider that informal or uneducated Spanish.The family is also important, and it is considered very polite to ask, “How is your family doing?”
Wearing bun huggers shorts or pants is not a good idea Read more... (509 words, 2 images, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)
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