Thanks to a skill base which grows each day, life is easier since those first few months of being tongue tied and frustrated when giving directions to cab drivers and being horrified upon seeing a scorpion under my bed pillow… I’m still working on tire changing, but carry the cell-phone, a tire-inflator and the AAA phone number. When all else fails, here’s hoping, a smile and my Spanish will get me through.

Adaptability to change !

In a survival situation a gentle environment can suddenly change into a life-threatening situation, and the key is being able to adapt to those changing environmental conditions! Today’s advancing technology and global commerce mandates that successful businesses be able to frequently break their molds and re-invent their product and operations.

How often have we heard fellow gringos complain and compare the way things are done in Costa Rica, with the way things are done back home? Yikes, you’re not back home, you’re here and believe it or not, the key to happiness just may be not fighting your change in climate, but adapting to it.

Running a Restaurant is certainly giving us daily experience with adaptability…catering a 5 course dinner for 45 people without water all day was interesting…. I said interesting, not fun!

We were evacuated from two hotels !

Gee, there was also being evacuated from two hotels last year due to a volcano eruption at Arenal and an earthquake in neighboring Nicaragua. So we didn’t sleep in our plush hotel rooms, but camped out on lawn-chairs in an outdoor field. In the end we survived with much better reflexes in natural disasters. Believe it or not, when we now travel, we keep a bag packed by the bed just in case a quick exit is in order complete with flashlight and our mental plan for the most rapid egress.

Next time I will talk about two final survival skills that come from within you, your energy level, and your personal mental attitude, as both of these are key points to adjusting well to living in Costa Rica, or any other culture different from your own.

Rosemary and Barry Rein moved to Costa Rica 3 years ago, upon selling their Boutique Hotels in Philadelphia and Cape May, New Jersey. The Reins bought their dream home in the mountains of Escazu and now own and operate Café de Artistas, a local favorite for breakfast, lunch, and afternoon coffee, located in San Rafael de Escazu.

© El Residente ARCR Administración S.A. San José, Costa Rica N.B. Like all information on the internet, this article may currently be incorrect or out of date.