Situation 3
You meet a Tico at a party, hit it off right away and swap phone numbers. You call your new friend shortly afterwards to ask him to dinner a few days in advance. He gladly accepts - but on the night in question never turns up. Next time you bump into him, he offers no apology or explanation. Do you:
A. Feel insulted and resolve to reduce your circle of friends to those who take social engagements seriously.
B. Decide, next time, to only ask him out on the spur of the moment when there's no chance for forgetfulness or mind-changing.
C. Invite him to dinner again in a week's time.
If you answered A, there's no point taking it to heart or feeling paranoid- Ticos are just notoriously incumplidos. To you, simple forgetting about an arrangement, or turning up two hours late may seem tantamount to rudeness, but if you confine yourself to friends who share your attitudes about time, you will probably find yourself with a rather small social circle. Answer C will probably see you being stood up again. B is probably the best answer. Call up one evening and ask what your friend is doing. If he's going out, he'll probably invite you along. If he has no plans, suggest meeting up.
A single humor post from Costa Rica real estate.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Cultural Quiz 101
Situation 2
You're in a small town and need to catch a bus back to San Jose. Your taxi to the bus stop has to stop to allow a large herd of cows to pass on the road, and you arrive 20 minutes after the bus has left. Do you:
A. Sit down with a coffee and wait , fuming with frustration, for the five hours until the next bus leaves.
B. Hire a taxi to drive you the 150 miles back to San Jose.
C. Think laterally. Hail a passing taxi or pick-up and ask the driver to chase down the bus.
A is a possibility if you have time on your hands and a good novel to read, or something else to do in a one-horse town. B is another option if your budget stretches to it, but if you answered C, you're thinking like a Tico. The driver will go like a bat out of hell to run down that bus in record time. When you overtake it, horn honking, both of you and the driver should lean out of the windows waving furiously until the bus stops to let you aboard.
A single humor post from Costa Rica real estate.
You're in a small town and need to catch a bus back to San Jose. Your taxi to the bus stop has to stop to allow a large herd of cows to pass on the road, and you arrive 20 minutes after the bus has left. Do you:
A. Sit down with a coffee and wait , fuming with frustration, for the five hours until the next bus leaves.
B. Hire a taxi to drive you the 150 miles back to San Jose.
C. Think laterally. Hail a passing taxi or pick-up and ask the driver to chase down the bus.
A is a possibility if you have time on your hands and a good novel to read, or something else to do in a one-horse town. B is another option if your budget stretches to it, but if you answered C, you're thinking like a Tico. The driver will go like a bat out of hell to run down that bus in record time. When you overtake it, horn honking, both of you and the driver should lean out of the windows waving furiously until the bus stops to let you aboard.
A single humor post from Costa Rica real estate.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Cultural Quiz 101
Situation 1
During a break at a roadside cafe during a long bus ride, a friendly older male passenger holds the door open for you, calling you my queen and offers to buy you a drink. Do you:
A. Snort in disgust at his sexism and walk off.
B. Insist on your buying him a drink instead (after all, you probably earn four times more than him).
C. Accept and thank him, but say that next time you meet (which you both know will probably be never), you will buy him a drink.
If you answered A, you're going to end up very irritated, very quickly, and possibly rather lonely, in Costa Rica. Try to accept the omnipresent chivalry with a sense of humor - you will get on a lot better, and probably meet a lot of interesting people along the way.
B would injure your friend's pride and embarrass him in front of anyone watching - a Costa Rican caballero. Never lets a lady buy him a drink, and definitely not a first drink.
C is ideal. Everyone is happy and now you can sit back for a chat.
A single humor post from Costa Rica real estate.
During a break at a roadside cafe during a long bus ride, a friendly older male passenger holds the door open for you, calling you my queen and offers to buy you a drink. Do you:
A. Snort in disgust at his sexism and walk off.
B. Insist on your buying him a drink instead (after all, you probably earn four times more than him).
C. Accept and thank him, but say that next time you meet (which you both know will probably be never), you will buy him a drink.
If you answered A, you're going to end up very irritated, very quickly, and possibly rather lonely, in Costa Rica. Try to accept the omnipresent chivalry with a sense of humor - you will get on a lot better, and probably meet a lot of interesting people along the way.
B would injure your friend's pride and embarrass him in front of anyone watching - a Costa Rican caballero. Never lets a lady buy him a drink, and definitely not a first drink.
C is ideal. Everyone is happy and now you can sit back for a chat.
A single humor post from Costa Rica real estate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)