Insider Secrets

Skip: Every December, I watch Costa Ricans gearing up for tamal season like it’s the culinary Super Bowl. I still don’t understand what triggers the frenzy. One minute everyone’s calm and living Pura Vida… the next minute they’re boiling pork at dawn and hoarding banana leaves like the apocalypse is coming. Teresita: Skip, you need to stop acting like tamales are some cute little snack. This is Christmas engineering. Making tamales is basically our version of NASA launch prep

Skip’s Viewpoint – The Expat From Florida Skip had lived in Florida long enough to know three things: Smiling at strangers makes them suspicious. Waving at strangers makes them more suspicious. Saying hello to strangers means you’re either running for office, crazy or selling something. So when Skip arrived in Costa Rica, he brought that same “don’t-make-eye-contact” philosophy with him. But it didn’t last long. One morning, he was wandering through a small mountain town, pr

Saying “YES” more often in Costa Rica is like discovering a hidden superpower. Skip's point of view For Skip, the proud expat adventurer from the USA, that magical little word has become his new favorite toy. Back home, the wildest thing he said “YES” to was ordering dessert on a weekday . But now he’s here in Costa Rica — where people say “YES” to last-minute beach trips, mystery foods, zip-lining through jungles, and dancing like nobody is watching (even though everyone mos

In Costa Rica, the Abuela isn’t just a sweet older lady who hands out cookies. No, no, no… she is the sun around which the entire family orbits! She’s the leader of the pack, the CEO of the household, the undisputed referee of every family disagreement and the master chef whose secret recipes are taken straight from the heavens. If you think the President is in charge, trust me… the Abuela outranks him in every home! Teresita knows this. Born and raised in Costa Rica, she ha

(Teresita of Santa Cruz & Skip the Expat) Skip’s Viewpoint “Ah, mi amor, you have no idea what true happiness is until you’ve tasted Gallo Pinto con alma! ” Teresita says proudly, standing in her colorful kitchen in Santa Cruz. The air smells like heaven! It's a mix of cilantro, onions and a splash of Lizano sauce that could wake up an entire neighborhood. “My abuela,” she continues, eyes twinkling, “could make Gallo Pinto thirty different ways. Thirty! And that was just be