Last week, someone we met and have kept in touch offered us their house for 6 months.  It’s on the Caribbean coast and the price is unbeatable.  The problem?  No high-speed internet at home.  So we’d have to use dial-up for email, and when I have to upload/download files, I’d need to run out to a wi-fi hotspot (probably at a local b&b).  It’s not convenient and really puts a dent in my ability to work at 5am like I intend to.  Or search online for ideas or research.  (though I guess that’s not the end of the world – we did live with dial-up before, but CR dialup is like 1/2 the speed of US dialup)  But the price is incredible.  We’d have quick access to gorgeous beaches, see monkeys regularly and we can test drive life on the Caribbean without a commitment.

Otoh, the CV has its attractions, though more for me than Trish, who is a total water chick.  (the kids are happiest on a beach)  But … there are many more people in the CV, which would give me more opportunities to network and find website/design clients.  There are more in terms of commerce & services, which I guess would make for an easier transition.  And … there’s a ninja school.  I’m DYING to go to ninja school with M (& eventually J and the tbd #3)(and Trish, if I can convince her it’d be worth learning how to walk on dry leaves without making a sound).

I don’t want to think about it too much, since I’d rather go with the gut than make some ultra-logical decision based on pros & cons.  But I don’t want to make things harder for us by reducing our possible income.  The last thing I want to do in CR is worry about money.  And after seeing Into the Wild I want to follow my heart but think logically enough to not do something really f*cking dumb.  I know I’m going to bust my ass to keep the cash flow going and I *think* it would be easier in the CV and with high-speed interwebs at home.  But … there no beaches in the CV and much fewer monkeys (if any).  So this is quite the quandary since the dream is tropical living with flora & fauna.

This has been on my mind for days and I finally came up with a possible compromise last night – what if we only spent 2 weeks a month on the Caribbean?  We want to spend time at the beach anyway, and the cost is less than 10 days at more affordable b&bs.  So that might work out, with life in the CV with monthly semi-vacations.  What do y’all think?

Him: ‘If I get an MBA, I can be an entrepreneur.’
Me: ‘Um… why don’t you just start a business instead?’
Him: (some blather about needing a degree, degrees opening doors, other nonsense)

People need that time to mature, some say. Perhaps keeping them in high school during some of the most influential times of their lives is the culprit. Kids wouldn’t need a few years to cut loose if they had more control over their lives when they were younger. That was the case for me – from Catholic school to full-blown party animal. No coincidence there – just simple cause and effect. Maybe – just maybe – traditional cultures knew something when they made their coming of age rituals take place around the age of adolescence.

College is also a false, manufactured reality. Spending the majority of your time with people of your own age is about as far from reality as can be. If anything, it prepares you for the day you get stuck in a home for the aged – once again, surrounded by people your own age. Want some reality? There are plenty of ways to do that by interacting with society in general. Learn a trade, start a business, volunteer, get a job.

The world is out there, and you don’t need to be sequestered in an educational institution to find it. Perhaps that made sense when people lived in one place for their whole lives, but not anymore. You don’t need college for travel either. How stupid is it to make such a big deal about studying abroad when you end up spending time in a classroom and doing homework? What a waste! Better to spend the tuition money on actual travel instead of a limited cultural experience.

What about the so-called best years of our lives? Isn’t it sad that 4 years of being sheltered from real responsibilities is considered the best years? What about the 40 years after that? Interestingly, the other time in life that has such a positive vibe is the Golden Years, when you’re retired and have no more responsibilities. With a message like that, no wonder kids fuck around in school. I am so much happier out of school than in, having the ability to find myself, realize my true dreams and work to make them real. Life is tough, but I’ve never had a better time than I’m having now.

Obviously, all of this is colored by my own experience. I went to the best school I could to get the right pedigree. Not that it mattered – I didn’t graduate on time, lied on my resume about graduating and still found a job. Having spent years being guided away from my interests, I studied something practical,economics, which for me was practically useless. Everything I do for income I taught myself – proof that you don’t need a degree or school. My grandfather was a wealthy, self-made business man without a degree. Lots of jobs that require a BA or BS just want some basic proof that the hiree isn’t a moron – or is a pliable drone.

So what’s going to happen with my kids? Whatever they want, I’ll support. They’ll have years to follow their hearts and if they want to go to college, I think they will have good reasons for it. Either for knowledge or a specific educational or professional goal. I think their interests will be obvious by 10 or 12, and I’ll be happy to let their curiosity be their guide.

Thanks to O’DonnellWeb for kicking off my rant.

More than ¢450.000 ($908) Needed For Family of Four To Meet Basic Needs

A recent survey by the Spanish language daily, Al Día, reveals that a family of four needs an income of ¢447.788 (us$904) monthly to meet living expenses, including the cost of food, water, electricity, telephone (home phone and cellular), bus fares, a couple of nights out to a restaurant and payment of a mortgage of ¢20 million colones (us$40.500).

That figure is much higher that the ¢107.220 ($216) colones the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo (INEC) says is needed to make up the basic food basket and more than twice the average income of ¢259.722 colones ($524).

According to the INEC, general incomes range from ¢223.350 ($451) monthly paid by private business to ¢371.027 ($749) paid by the central government and ¢461.500 ($931) paid by the government institutions and agencies.

The Al Día calculates that if the family lives outside of San José, like Alajuela for instance, and require use a vehicle, the monthly cost increases to ¢575.848 ($1162), not taking into account the recent round of increases in fuel that go into effect later this week, as well as the recent increases in food items such as milk, rice and beans.

For the director of the Oficina de Apoyo al Consumidor (Consumer Support), Cynthia Zapata, says that people should avoid getting into debt as much as possible.

“One has to be strict and do all possible to keep control of the budget. The current condition shows that people are not saving”, said Zapata.

Financial expert, Miguel Díaz, advises that families should budget their expenses. “It is very difficult to send a child to school, where they see a schoolmate with an iPod, and of course want one also, but one has to say no to avoid financial imbalances”, said Díaz.

The following is a sample monthly budget for a family of four as prepared by the Al Día:

Basic Food Basket	¢107.220 / $216
Electricity	¢11.928 / $25
Water	¢5.576 / $11
Cellular Telephone	¢11.000 / $22
Home Telephone	¢7.500 / $15
Mortgage	¢240.000 / $484
Bus Fares (for 2)	¢17.500 / $35
Two Visits to a Restaurant	¢20.000 / $40
Domestic Help – 4 days	¢12.864 / $26
If living outside San José (Alajueal for example) add	¢14.200 / $28
If a vehicle is owned add:
Gasoline	¢43.348 / $87
Car Payment *	¢84.712 / $171
City Bus Fare ( 1 person)	¢8.500 / $17
If children in daycare add:
Monthly cost	¢75.000 / $151
Domestic help	¢96.531 / $195
Extra Cellular Phone Cost	¢11.000 / $22
If family enjoys cable television add:
Monthly cost	¢12.500 / $25

* ¢10 millones loan from Banco Nacional

Source: Al Día

I’m really happy about the idea, though I’m still working on what to get for my intended recipient.  Some family members have been trying to figure out who’s got who, but I don’t care.  I had the joy of emailing my MIL that I’ll never tell who I have the other day.  But I suppose old habits (buying stuff based on a list of what someone wants, and thus logically Not Wasting Time or Money) are hard to break.

We may have made our ‘no gifts’ proclamations based on our budget, but I’m glad to know that we’re not alone.  I realize now how ridiculous it all is.  Christmas lists seemed like a good idea so people don’t have to spend time returning gifts, but it makes the process so impersonal.  Just using the word ‘process’ to describe it is bad enough.  It becomes a thoughtless sequence of events, devoid of real emotion.

My whole view on Christmas shifted after seeing the the surprise and joy my children have when they see that Santa came.  We’re not ones to break the bank (mainly because there’s no bank to break) but seeing my kids happy makes for a joyous and fulfilling Christmas for me.  (Caveat: I like toys and games )  We don’t get a very big timeframe for kids to really believe in something magical.  Love is magical, but Santa has some unbeatable ‘How the hell does he do it’ mojo.

M still firmly believes in Santa, and I hope it stays that way for another couple of years.  He did have some very pointed questions about Santa this year, including how his elves can make plastic toys, but Trish did well in convincing him that they continually upgrade their skills and keep up with the times.  I’m girded for this being the last Christmas where he really believes – I’m sure someone will try to tell him otherwise in the next year, and maybe he’ll insist on searching the house.

Or worse, he learns to read and starts reading our blog

Since it was a tourist-oriented area, we assumed that prices were a bit inflated.  The mercados (grocery stores) were small by American standards, really more like big NYC bodegas.  They were pretty well stocked with basics, and I don’t remember the prices too well.  I do remember buying some Kellogg’s cereal for about $4-5 (they actually had a much larger selection of known American brands than loca cereals).

Today we arrived in Belen and I ran out for a quick shopping trip to ‘Mega-Super.’  I’m glad to see that they had some self control in naming their store, at least compared to the northern Manhattan Latino stalwart ‘Xtra-Super-Jumbo.’  (I’d love to know if there’s a store out in the world that’s taken this naming convention to an extreme, perhaps stringing 5 or 6 superlatives together)

Anyway, Mega-Super is basically a really modern supermarket and would not be out of place at all in the US, where we like to pick names that seem practical (Stop & Shop, Price Chopper) or neighborly (Wegman’s, Kroger’s).  I don’t think it lacked for anything, though the selection of items was less (like a lot fewer spices).  I did walk into a Mega-Super in downtown Alajuela the first day we were here and it was not as modern (this is a brand new store) and was overall smaller with a smaller selection as well.

We’re looking forward to catching a feria (farmer’s market) sometime soon as that’s where we expect to be buying a lot of our food.  I don’t think we can go back to grocery store veggies since we joined the CSA, due to both taste and value.  Here’s the list of stuff from Mega-Super, converted to dollars at 515 colones per dollar (the rate everyone seems to use right now for giving change in colones after being paid in dollars). NB: 454g = 1lb

• 1 liter milk $0.97
• 1 liter orange juice $1.19
• 400g canned plum tomatoes $1.13 (should’ve bought fresh)
• Nestle Corn Flakes $3.50 (least sugar of all cereals not expressly made to help people poop)
• 15 eggs $2.12 (they’re not refrigerated here – this one has an expiration date of Nov 20)
• large loaf of whole wheat bread $1.97 (I bet we get good hand-made bread for less elsewhere)
• 500g laundry detergent $1.41
• 500g pasta with protein $1.73 (more expensive than regular pasta but a great choice when you’ve got a kid who tends to eat plain pasta)
• 375g tilapia filets $3.91 (or $4.73/lb – better than the best sale price I’ve seen at home.  I’m sure buying from a fisherman would be a lot better)
• 1 liter Cabernet $4.09 (I saw wine in a paper box the same as milk & OJ and just had to try it.  It tastes way better than anything in the US that involves the words ‘box’ and ‘wine.’)
• 250ml probiotic yogurt drink $1.66
• 1 small shaker of salt $0.29 (is salt supposed to have flouride in it?)
• 400g can black beans $1.01
• 680g potatoes (ie 3 loose potatoes) $0.37

The prices aren’t tremendously lower, but still a bit better overall.  As I’ve found out, getting veggies directly from a farm is much more cost-effective, so I’m quite interested to see a real feria and get a much better handle on the cost of food.