Costa Rica Cost Of Living Update:              One pound of REALLY good Costa Rican coffee- $5

Last Thursday was International Coffee Day. I’ve never heard of his holiday and can’t remember ever getting a day off from school to celebrate. However, with such a global love for this product it would seem reasonable to have a day set aside to reflect on this incredible bean. Since I live in Costa Rica, I don’t have to go far to appreciate it.

Costa Rica is known for harvesting some of the finest coffee in the world. Many of the beans are grown at altitudes ranging from 1200 to 1700 meters, the perfect conditions for a good product. Everyone who visits the country falls in love with it. In fact, your flight back from Costa Rica will most likely smell like Starbucks since most tourists cram a few pounds of packaged coffee into their carry-on bags.  With this kind of love affair, the Costa Rican tourism board should consider new ads like, “come for the wildlife, stay for the coffee” or “our monkeys are not caffeinated but you will be”.  But one that I believe best describes the experience is, “drink a cup and keep it simple”. (more…)