Realizing the Differences

I actually wrote that article for the student paper at my former university. But since the topic and those thoughts fit my blog very well, I’ll publish it here as well:


If you are German and living in Germany, then this is for you: Have you ever asked yourself how spoiled you are? Or do you at least appreciate all the luxury you are having?
Well, I have now travelled in Central America for 3,5 months. My first destination was Boquete in Panama, a scenic town in the mountains. It was small, partly Europeanised, full of tourists and therefore fairly safe. My second destination was Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica, a Caribbean town in the south of Costa Rica. It again was very touristy, small, and safer than most other places. But now I’m in a small town in the north of Costa Rica and it made me realize some things. Las Juntas, where I live with my boyfriend, is not touristy and apart from a few Gringos (a not nice word for describing US-Americans)who live up in the mountains and come down to do some shopping once a week, I’m the only non-Costa Rican here.
Before I came here to move in with my Costa Rican boyfriend, he assured me that he has found a safe house to live in. Safe here means that all the windows and doors have extra steal bars in front of them: Welcome to feeling like living in a prison! Plus we have bought three extra locks, so that we can lock all the doors from the inside which couldn’t be opened from the outside without a key anyway. In Germany, I grew up in a small town as well and there a safe house meant that you could lock your door and had a cellar where you could lock your bike in. Nobody there would barricade him- or herself behind steal bars and extra locks. Furthermore, all our windows of that brightly lit house are hidden under dark curtains, so that nobody from the outside can see that I own a laptop or that a blonde girl is living here. I also don’t go into the back yard when the farmer behind our yard are out; I don’t want them to get any ideas when they see an exotic girl like me. However, safety has also been an issue in Boquete and Puerto Viejo: When my colleague and I went out for partying at night, we were not allowed to cross the bridge and walk home alone although it would have only taken 10 minutes. We always had to go home together or get an expensive taxi. Puerto Viejo was a bit worse because there I lived in an apartment block that was off the main street in the middle of the jungle. The road did not have any lights and walking alone for 15 minutes on a completely empty jungle path after your late shift is not a pleasant experience, not even with a flashlight. But the worst of all is San Josè (the capital of Costa Rica): After it gets dark (which is at 5.45 pm already) you do not go out alone, not even as a guy. When I was living in my university town Kassel I never considered not going home alone at night after a party. It seemed perfectly safe. Do you now see how spoiled Germans are in terms of safety?
But of course, safety is not the only issue: the social system is much more important! Or would you want to pay $3500 for a caesarean section although you are insured? So many people in Germany complain about the bad health care and that you have to pay extra for everything. But now imagine you only earn about $500 per month (a normal salary for a person without a university degree here) and you have to pay for everything as well? And what if you are unemployed? Well, the German state pays everything for its people: the apartment, water and heating bills and puts a bit of money on top of it for food and clothing. What do you get in Costa Rica? Absolutely nothing! You better have a friend or family who will let you live with them for a while. So, are we spoiled by our social system or what?
So, and let’s now talk about education: Yes, I know, PISA said that Germany has one of the worst education systems in Europe or the western world. But compared to the one in Costa Rica, ours is great! When people here finish high school, they barely speak English, their writing and spelling is mostly miserable, and the only thing they really learned is how to take drugs. The good private schools, of course, cost lots of money and are only affordable for very few. And studying at university is fairly expensive. Compared to what people earn here, our tuition fees (in the states where they exist) are a joke. (And yes, I was one of the people demonstrating against them when they were introduced at Kassel and I’m still against tuition fees. But travelling in third world countries does make you see things a bit differently.) Ah, and in Germany you have BaFög if your family can’t afford to send you to university. And what do you get in Costa Rica? Well, of course, nothing! You can take up a loan and hope that in the future you’ll be able to pay it back. Don’t you also think we are spoiled by our educational system?
Of course, there are other European countries where the social system, educational system and the safety is even better than in Germany. It makes me remember how shocked I was that a 7-year old was allowed to ride his bike to school which was about 4 km away by himself in Finland. That’s how safe it was!
Do all those things make me hate Costa Rica? No, not at all! It has its good sides as well: the beaches, the 35 degrees in the shade during winter, the friendly and happy people, very low water and electricity bills, the easy-going way of everything, and my boyfriend. But it did make me realize one thing: I would definitely not want to raise my kids here! Would I go back to Germany? No, I don’t think so. I don’t really fit in there, but there are other nice industrial countries where you can find a good and safe environment for your family where I don’t have scorpions in my bathroom or poisonous snakes and spiders in my backyard. However, will I ever get my Costa Rican boyfriend out of Costa Rica? He loves it so. But he has never travelled to other countries and does not know that there are advantages of living somewhere else.
And now I can only say: Pura Vida! (translates into: “Pure Life”, the always used greeting in Costa Rica which perfectly describes the lifestyle of its people.)