Love and Permanent Companionship

If you are looking for someone for romance, Costa Rica might just be the right place for you. Ladies, regardless of age, you will find gentleman admirers if you so desire. Due to machismo, Costa Rican men are more flirtatious an aggressive than North American men. Most Costa Rican men think foreign women have looser morals and are easier conquests than ticas (Costa Rican women). So, be careful to take time to develop a long-term, meaningful relationship and don't rush things.

Men of any age will have no problem meeting Costa Rican women. The women in Costa Rica seem to like older, more experienced men. It is not unusual to see a wife who is ten to twenty years younger than her spouse. This practice may be frowned on in some countries but is accepted in Costa Rica. Many retirees we know claim to feel rejuvenated and to have a new lease on life after becoming involved with younger women. Costa Rican women have an unparalleled reputation as being the most beautiful, flirtatious, and accessible women in Latin America-including Brazil. The ladies of Costa Rica are more warm-hearted and devoted than their North American counterparts. They consider you a joy. One retiree we know boasts, "The women here really know how to treat you like a king!" A man doesn't even have to be rich to meet women-a $1,500 Social Security check translates to a millionaire's pay in Costa Rica.

No wonder Costa Rican women are highly sought by foreign men. However, before becoming involved with a Costa Rican woman, you should realize the many cultural differences that can lead to all sorts of problems, especially if you don't speak Spanish fluently.

Generally, Latin women are more jealous and possessive than American women, and tend not to understand our ways unless they have lived in the United States. Also, be aware that because of their comparative wealth, most Americans, especially the elderly, are considered prime targets for some unscrupulous Latin females.

As we alluded to at the end of the first chapter, in some cases there is another bad side of marrying a Costa Rican woman in that you can end up supporting her whole family either directly or indirectly as many foreigners complain. There is a book titled, "Happy Aging With Costa Rican Women - The Other Costa Rica" by James Y. Kennedy. It tells all about the trials and tribulations and experiences many gringos have with Costa Rican women. This book is available online through www.amazon.com .

We advise you to give any relationship time and make sure a woman is sincerely interested in you and not just your money-you will save yourself a lot of grief and heartache in the long run. Since prostitution is legal and available to men of all ages, be careful of the ladies of ill repute. Many foreigners after inviting one of these females to spend the night, wake up the next day without the woman and minus wallets and other valuables.

One scam we recently heard of involves a well-dressed woman with a brief case who approaches strangers.. She claims to be from another Latin American country and wanting to celebrate her birthday. She says she is alone and has nobody to celebrate it with her. She then invites the unsuspecting victim to accompany her to a bar for a drink. Once in the bar she slips a drug into the glass of the foreigner. Within minutes he is unconscious. The woman then relieves him of his cash and credit cards. She then takes the credit cards to an accomplice who quickly charges large amounts of money to the cards.

Most single men can avoid getting involved with gold diggers, prostitutes, or other troublesome women if they know where to look for good women. The personals section of the Tico Times is an excellent place to advertise for companionship. It is relatively inexpensive and many Costa Rican women read this section each week. Check out the current or past issues of the Tico Times for ideas on how to write one of these ads.

One American we know ran an ad in the Tico Times and the local Spanish newspapers and ended up screening hundreds of women before finding his ideal mate. As far as we know he is still happily married. Taking classes at the university is another way to meet quality women. The University of Costa Rica in San Pedro is full of beautiful well-educated females. Cafés, restaurants, bars and other places around the university are good places to meet women. If you have Costa Rican friends, they will usually be able introduce you to someone worthwhile.

The key is finding a nice, traditional Costa Rican woman and avoiding getting involved with "bad" Costa Rican women. Costa Rica has plenty of working girls and hustlers. They hang out at the popular bars and discos specifically to pick up guys. They also go shopping in the malls, ride buses and go to grocery stores. So just because you have met a nice girl in a typical working girl hang out, doesn't mean you have met a quality person. If you know what to look for, they are easy to spot.

Many men have knowingly and unknowingly married bad women. Some girls are honest and will directly ask you for money. The hustlers are more dangerous because their agenda is to really take you to the cleaners and they do not rule out marrying you to achieve this objective. Some men say that have lost everything from airline tickets that are cashed instead of used, large sums of money the girls claim they need to get visas, houses and more. These are the women who contribute to the bad stories you may hear about some Costa Rican women. So falling in love with a bad girl will typically lead to a lot of heartache and problems. Unfortunately, they are the easiest girls to meet in many instances and a good number of men fall into this trap.

A very small number of these women will become good wives, find religion, etc. They are often women who have been sexually or otherwise abused at a very young age so the problem is very deeply rooted. So, your realistic chances of converting them are very slim. No matter how gorgeous the girl is, it is just not worth it.

The best way to spot a bad girl is her profile. They never have a job, never live with their parents, never have phone numbers and never invite you to their home or introduce you to their friends or family. They do not want to leave any trail for you to track them down later. They typically come from very poor backgrounds and have very little education, rarely completing high school.

They are quite aggressive and target older Americans. Often they speak a little English and will start up a conversation with you or smile at you, until you make the first move. They will appear friendly and sincerely interested in you. They are always attractive or very young. They will always ask for your phone number. The best way to politely get rid of one of these women is to ask them to loan you a little money. You will immediately see their interest disappear. Actually, a nice woman in Costa Rica might just loan you the money. Women you see working in stores are usually poorly educated and from poor families. Some may show an interest in an older American who is friendly with them, but the relationship is likely to be overly influenced by a poor woman looking for a rich American husband.

Foreign men should beware of the so-called, "Costa Rican set-up." We have heard countless stories where Costa Rican women get pregnant as a ploy to get a foreigner to marry them. We believe it is our duty to alert men about this underhanded and self-centered method of ensnaring them into an unwanted relationship.

In general, a nice Costa Rica woman typically lives with her parents until she gets married. Single daughters are not encouraged to get jobs, unless the parents are very poor. Instead they are expected to help with taking care of the house or study.

Quality Costa Rican women from traditional family backgrounds are raised to take care of their man. They can be quite possessive and jealous at times. But this is only because they are very emotional and deeply in love with their man. They tend to seek out long term relationships, starting at a very young age. It is quite rare for Costa Rican women to have any interest in casually dating many different guys.

When approached by strangers, they are friendly and helpful by nature, this is their culture. All Costa Ricans value making new friends. Americans often misread this friendliness and think the woman has a romantic interest in them. In order for the women to develop any romantic interest in you at all, they have to first know from a trusted third party that you are looking for a long-term relationship. After a brief encounter, a decent woman will never ask for your phone number. If you ask for her number, she will always give you the wrong number in order to avoid appearing rude. Nice women live with their parents and would never want to have strange guys calling their house. From a romantic interest point of view, quality Latin women are very difficult to meet.

As we alluded to earlier some Costa Rican women prefer older men. Most Costa Rican women meet a boy in high school and are only interested in guys their own age. However, about 40% do seriously prefer older men. We have met many Costa Rican friends who are happily married to women 10 to 25 years younger than them.

If the woman is convinced you are seriously looking for a long-term relationship she will then start to show an interest in getting to know you better. Her initial physical attraction to you will usually be of very minor importance to her. Her main interest will be focused on your personality: Are you are a kind person? Can you offer minimum security to raise a family? Do you sincerely care about her family? Would you make a good father? Over the years we have encountered a lot of foreigners who end up not using common sense and end up getting involved with people with whom they would probably never associate back home. This brings us to the story of "Dumb and Dumber."

Dumb came to Costa Rica about twelve years ago from the U.S. where he was a successful businessman. Almost upon arriving here he became romantically involved with a woman of ill- repute. He was basically too lazy and busy getting drunk to find a quality mate. Over the course of his relationship he lost about $300,000 because he entrusted his business dealings to his girlfriend. After splitting up with her and having to give her half of everything he owned because of their common law situation, he goes and gets involved with another women who will probably "take him to the cleaners" someday.

Dumber is even more stupid than dumb. He came to the country as a millionaire. The first thing he did was get romantically involved with a woman of the night. Dumber also spent most of his time in bars like Dumb. Consequently, when he broke up with his lady friend, after a few years together, he had to pay her around $50,000. He is now with another woman and most likely supporting her whole family. He'll probably end up broke like dumb. Neither Dumb nor Dumber speak Spanish nor have made any effort to understand the locals and constantly refer to them in derogatory terms.

The majority of foreign men who come to Costa Rica don't share Dumb and Dumber's fate. Nevertheless they should learn a lesson from this story.

Probably the most effective way to meet quality Costa Rica women is through one of these introduction services. Spainsh Eyes Introductions provides the same services and screens their women very carefully to protect their clients. In addition to there standard services they offer weekly parties for their members to meet women. You may contact them at: Tel: 011-506-222-0072/222-0075, Fax: 011 506-256-5914, e-mail: spanish_eyes_cr@yahoo.com or see www.spanisheyescostarica.com.