On October 31st, Costa Rica celebrates the Día Nacional de la Mascarada Tradicional Costarricense, or National Day of the Traditional Costa Rican Mascarade. Both Halloween and the Mascarade share some similarities such as the fact that both use masks and costumes, both meld cultural traditions, and both illustrate our inclination

Literally, this (Costa Rican) Spanish word means “firecracker”. It is a widely used term used to describe a person with the following personality traits, for instance: Someone who is braggy (be it a man or a woman): Example: ¡Ese señor sí es bombeta. Es un rajón! We could interpret this

Bocas (boh-kahs): Literally, the word “bocas” means mouths. Bocas are the quintessential snacks in Costa Rican cuisine, commonly found in bars and restaurants all over the place. Granted, many Spanish tapas are killer. But Costa Rican bocas are, hands down, tough competitors. Some of our bocas are cultural imports but

BOMBA (bom-ba) “Bomba” is a term which has a few meanings in Costa Rica. If you look up the term in, let’s say, Wordference, your English equivalents will be like bomb, pump and bombshell. Most of the time, Costa Ricans will use the word “Bomba” to refer to a gas

Where there is a group of people there is culture. Culture can be defined as a set of values, norms and meanings transmitted from one generation to another. People look and understand the world through culture. Therefore it is important for businesses to be aware of the culture they are

Many expats come to us asking about the various residency options that Costa Rica offers. The two easiest options are, of course, when you become the parent of a Costa Rican national or when you get residency based on marriage. The simplest option besides those two choices, however, is that

AMARRARSE LAS ENAGUAS (a-ma-raɾ-se-las-e-na-ɣwas) AMARRARSE LOS PANTALONES (a-ma-raɾ-se-los- pan-ta-lo-nes) These expressions would literally translate as “Tighten your skirt” or “Tighten your pants”, respectively. The former expression would apply to women and the latter to men. Semantically, they may imply putting on big girl panties/big boy pants. “Amarrarse los pantalones (or

The first time I heard the word expat was when I was working at Fragomen, one of the largest Immigration Law Firms in the world. Fragomen is mainly dedicated to corporate immigration, which means that they charge an arm and a leg to multinational corporations to transfer their employees worldwide. It makes