An Expat Talks about Living in Cahuita , Costa Rica

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Cahuita

Describe how you "dreamed" expat life would be before you moved overseas. Please provide as much detail as possible.

Before I moved to Cahuita, Costa Rica I didn't expect much except not the typical vacation in an all inclusive resort & to 'connect' with local people. I wanted to feel FREE without stressing for anything

How has your expat experience met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

I went to Cahuite for a 2 week vacation around 1993. I was only 23 years old & fell head over heals for a guy from Venezuela named Wareke. This is why I ended up & staying there for almost 2 years! Finally, I decided to leave because there was too much poverty & lots of people on crack and not working, just robbing any tourists they could. I was selling made artesanias (jewlery) by the beach near the entrance park of Cahuita and I often was intimidated by locals that wanted to either sexually harass me or wanted to rob me. So I ended up selling my artesanias en Puerto Limon on the cruise ships days along with a Peruvian family. I lived with my boyfriend Wareke on black beach in a small house with no water or electricity or even a washroom. We had to dig wholes in the jungle for a # 2.... At 23 it wasn't that bad but it could have been a lot better! I remember people were impressed with our names: Wareke & Annicka... how weird is that, strange names. But hey, we were deeply in love!

Traveling Mailbox
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Traveling Mailbox

Traveling Mailbox serves thousands of travelers, expats, digital nomads, businesses, individuals and others in over 47 Countries by scanning their postal mail so they can view it online anywhere in the world. They provide customer service 7 days a week so if you need assistance, it is just a phone call away. Traveling Mailbox works with Evernote, Bill.com and Dropbox. And, there are Traveling Mailbox apps available for iOS and Android devices.
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How has your expat experience NOT met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

I decided to leave Cahuita even though I had met nice friends that were from Québec, Canada as I am. I felt the place didn't like me! I felt people didn't like expats living there. I felt like an intruder. It was painful to leave since I had adjusted myself to a SLOW beat and I liked Wareke even though I knew he wouldn't do anything with his life. I forgot to say that in Cahuita, people smoke marijuana morning to night! The rasta mentality is very focused on being HIGH, but I was fed up with people trying to rob me all the time and that it was dangerous for a beautiful girl like I was to stroll along on the beach and in the jungle. I remembered that I had been followed a few times and that I had been scared of being raped. Cahuita IS not the place for a young single woman. After almost 2 years I came back to Canada and later settled in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Immigration Help Costa Rica
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Costa Rica Legal Residency is an articulately bi-lingual boutique firm with 15 + years of successful experience and exclusive focus on Costa Rica Temporary and Permanent Residency, Renewals, Digital Nomad, and Citizenship. Located minutes from the Department of Immigration.

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Immigration Help Costa Rica

Costa Rica Legal Residency is an articulately bi-lingual boutique firm with 15 + years of successful experience and exclusive focus on Costa Rica Temporary and Permanent Residency, Renewals, Digital Nomad, and Citizenship. Located minutes from the Department of Immigration.
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Click connect to have our partner contact you via e-mail and/or phone.