gannetmusic

This was forwarded to me by a friend yesterday. The author is an ex-pat American who has lived in Costa Rica for years, is happily married to a Tica, and loves the country dearly.

Something to think about.....

"As the brightly-painted ox cart is the symbol of Costa Rica, so every town in Costa Rica has a Catholic Church in its center, with a "futbol" field across the street. Tamarindo has neither, and we assume has never been a Costa Rican town. It certainly is not now, and although among the most popular destination for Gringos, we cannot for the life of us figure out why---unless it is for easy, unmolested access to whores, drugs and booze."

cheers

Jerry

jtrandolph

I am a Gringa. I was in Tamarindo last month. I didn't see "whores, drugs and booze", but then I wasn't looking for them. I saw, around that area, lots of "McMansions" or "starter palaces" with infinity swimming pools. I saw way too many cars for the narrow streets, and way too many T-shirt shops.

But then, it is a tourist destination, is it not? They come for the beaches, maybe for the turtle reserve, and for the relatively inexpensive realty scene (compared with North America) so that they can become "ex-pats", at least on a temporary basis.

I went to visit my Gringa daughter who is married to a Tico. They are there because that is where their jobs are.

sean420

I think your friend has Tamarindo mixed up with Jaco

shillmac

True, Jerry, I'd never thought about it, but Tamarindo doesn't have the prerequisite futbol field/church/town square. Although we still enjoy stopping there occasionally just to see what horrendous things have happened lately, it has truly become a frenzy of people and activity and business and building. How I would have loved to have seen it as a small little fishing village. Even 5 years ago, it still hadn't lost all of its charm.

The entire coast line is following
suit. Danged developers!

ewesthoff

I have to agree with the other posts, I didn't see it like that either. I thought of it as "Little California", filled with young surfers wearing flip-flops, board shorts and looking like they haven't showered or shaved in a week or so, but friendly and fun to be around. It was very touristy and americanized, compared to the other parts of CR that we visited. Glad I saw it, but wouldn't go back.

SassyPatty

Hi there...

My hubby and I shared a taxi with a middle-aged guy (fellow American) from the little airport to town. The whole way he kept telling us that he's been coming to Tamarindo for a few years and it's "the jewel of Costa Rica". We were very, very excited!! He then proceeded to tell us that he just purchased a condo for around $400,000 right across the street from the beach. Very friendly fellow.

Until he wanted our sweet taxi driver to take a left. He kept yelling "LEFT! LEFT! LEFT! LEFT!" No hand motions to help the poor guy. And come on, if he'd been visiting there for years, and just purchased a condo, hadn't he learned the Spanish word for Left?!?! We were SO HAPPY to get him out of the cab, and we had a good laugh with the driver, and left him a handsome tip (mostly to make up for the way our fellow American had treated him).

In my opinion, this was the problem with Tamarindo. A cute little town that is growing very fast, and is getting filled with Americans who totally disrespect the Tico heritage and community.

I thought Tamarindo was a bit too crowded. There were a lot of fun places to party...but then again, I'm 40 years old, and have moved on from the "LET'S PAR-TAY!!!!" phase of my youth to the "let's have a few beers and some great convo and meet some of the locals" phase of my life. There really wasn't too much of the latter, but a LOT of the former.

We much preferred Montezuma, and will be checking out Samara on our next trip.

Hope this helps...

gannetmusic

A Tico friend of ours has a great expression that, I guess, translates to "Touristic Imperialism."

It refers to people like the fellow above who go to foreign countries with a complete lack of cultural sensitivity, and expect, sometimes demand, that the local people cater to their whims and act 'just like the folks back home....'.

cheers

Jerry

sean420

What I found to be amazing is that the American Country Day School north of tamarindo (where the ex-pats send their kids) doesnt even teach Spanish to the students!

bfish

Sean 420 I do not know what hole you stuck your head in but you should pull it out and get your facts correct.

sean420

I stand corrected! When I was in Tamarindo last year someone told me about the kids not learning Spanish. I checked the website for the Country Day School and sound that Spanish IS part of the curriculum.

shillmac

That mistake would be easy to make, Sean. Certainly there are more polite ways to correct someone!

The County Day School is a very expensive private school, but I hear it has a fabulous curriculum with some very nice field trips. . .I can just imagine those, can't you??!!