Ruminations
On Good ole Canada
Postcard From Costa
Rica ~ by Kevin Barker
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| October
2005
San Jose,
Costa Rica
My apologies
to any readers who waited patiently for my report on Buenos Aires and/or
my definitive profile of renowned realtor and man-about-town in Nicaragua
Larry Hustler. All of that is coming but not right now. Actually in this
issue I need to answer some reader mail that’s been piling up for eons.
But first, a personal update: Late last September it seemed oddly appropriate
for me to go sit in a Toronto hotel room and get all misty watching curling
on TV. Not many Canadians raised outside of Winnipeg (or any Canadians
at all) do this after prolonged periods abroad, but I for one found it
an ideal cure for an uncharacteristic fit of homesickness. You know the
commercial on TV where some kid has Tim Horton coffee sent to him in London
where he’s going to college? I can’t say I agree with this commercialization
of Canadianism…but the fact is I pine for Canada every autumn. I love the
flaming colours and the crisp mornings and the smell of burning leaves
in Quebec’s Gatineau Hills. It’s splendiferous, unrivaled in the world
although New England runs a close second and Russia undoubtedly has equal
variety. |
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Kevin
Barker in Costa Rica
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However riveting
the Tim Horton Brier was, I tired quickly with analysis of ‘picks and rocks’
(does anyone outside of curling ever get this lingo?), and so surfed to
an interview with famed author Peter C. Newman, who seemed to be agreeing
with Austin Powers that the world is now run by ‘damned dirty apes’. He
didn’t put that way (Newman was referring to the ‘new’ New Canadian
establishment), but I think he had the same drift. I was astonished by
his later suggestion that the Rt. Hon. P.E. Trudeau had an ‘icicle for
a heart.’ Pierre certainly was not the emotive type but the untimely death
of his youngest son Sacha in a B.C. avalanche some years ago, followed
shortly after by the senior Trudeau’s own passing, would seem to suggest
that he had grown one late in life, n’est ce pas?
Mailroom. Ron
Rico, a reader, wants to know if he can live in Costa Rica on a fixed income
of $620 a month, about the infamous ‘Devil's Shower’, and healthcare in
general. Answer: Healthcare is abundant in terms of government programs.
Expect to pay about $50 per month for government insurance (called INS),
and to line up for long periods of time if you get sick and need to use
the country’s rather good medical services. You may get private health
insurance for substantially more, and the hospitals for those are like
five star hotels. Living in C.R. is doable at $650 per month if you’re
creative. Example: My monthly nut is $550 and I live in a furnished three
bedroom home, with a patio, kitchen, wooden floors and secured garage in
a small, two-church town outside Heredia in the Central Valley. My budget
includes travel, food and prep, laundry, maid service, Spanish lessons,
phone, TV, and electricity. My situation is unique because I live with
my Colombian ex girlfriend and her two sons. But to be perfectly frank,
Aracelly Brand Duque (to accord my ex her full panoply of names) is not
terribly cooperative with the Spanish lessons since she’s trying to learn
English herself.
The so-called
‘Devil’s Shower’ is in fact an electrical showerhead with an off/on switch
connected by wires to a throw lever on the wall. It is also called a ‘suicide
shower’ since it uses readily available electricity within the shower head
itself to heat the water that issues forth. It’s scary indeed, but I’ve
never heard of any resulting electrocutions.
Until next
month, happy travels!
The following
are the previous articles Kevin wrote for the magazine:
 Trouble
In Paradise ~ In
Costa Rica
The
Working Geezer's Guide To Nicaragua ~ In
Ometepe
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| Kevin Barker
is an expat Canadian living in Costa Rica where he publishes a financial
newsletter (www.barkerletter.com)
and provides FOREX and equities trading tips for subscribers around the
world. He also advises on offshore asset protection. His Postcard column
is printed each month in The Independent Times of Vancouver, Canada (www.theindependenttimes.com).
He may be reached at kweditor@telus.net. |
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