Or “No, I don’t eat lizards for breakfast”
This is kind of a taboo topic to talk about, specially in an international household, but is part of the reality of being from a “third world country” and moving to a “first world country”, so I think is time we address it
As we know the division between 1st, 2nd and 3rd world was an old definition to mark the west, the east and countries not affiliated to any. Nowadays “3rd world” refers to “less developed” and 1st world to the opposite.
But hear me out…
There’s still some people that believes the 3rd world means living out of coconuts in the jungle hunting jaguars or something, when in reality, some of this countries have better informatic systems (and some of them even technology) than some of the “first world countries”.
Personally I’ve been asked some of this questions (and affirmations) while living in Germany, and some people I know have gotten some others while living in other developed countries:
- Do you have cars in Costa Rica?
- Do you eat lizards?
- You have internet in Costa Rica?!
- Costa Rica is a poor country? (here comes the image of the jaguar hunter)
- How do you communicate in the jungle?
- Is Costa Rica part of the US?
- Is Costa Rica in Africa?
- Latin America is all an extremely violent and conflictive area… *silently judging you*
- It must be super dangerous to live so close to Venezuela…
- Oh Cost Rica, so you lived in South America?
- *Assuming you cannot speak more than 1 language, when you speak 3+, then getting surprised that you speak good english*
- Are you marrying a German to get a visa?
There seems to be little geographic understanding in the rest of the world… while we are taught where Mozambique, Luxembourg, Surinam and Malaysia are, the overall of the french revolution, wars and things like this (just random examples), it seems uncommon in the first world to know much about Central America. Or cars in the tropics, lol.
Of course, disclaimer, not everyone is like this, but the people who make themselves more notorious are asking/saying those sort of things.
Now, living in Germany made me realize that I also underestimated my own country. Here you get 74727485 papers for everything, rarely something is digital, and you will get it via post some day. While in my country you can get information via email, WhatsApp or other digital ways. Like, you can see you medical history in the public healthcare system app. Yes, we have an app for that. In Germany… The healthcare system covers the same but is separated from wherever you’re getting your health checked, is not centralized. You want the epicrisis of a surgery you had? You have to call the hospital at certain times and eventually they will send it to you, printed, via post.
One time I was talking with someone about something of this and was asked “Ah, but then how would it be in your country?”
– Digital. It would be digital.
Another thing is credit cards. Or debit cards, any plastic money. Costa Rica is a bit behind in the use of Paypal. A bit too much. But you can pay a coffee in a restaurant by a volcano with a debit or credit card, while in a centric town of Germany (to be understood: not the country side) I tried to pay for breakfast with an EC card (not even a real card, is a card system of Germany that works only inside of Germany) and was told “We only accept cash, you are in Lüneburg”, like saying “where TF do you think you are?”… Well… The first world I thought?
Here when you add money to your bank account on a Friday, it won’t be available for using it until Monday.
You know how we always complain in Costa Rica that you cannot go to the banks on Sundays? Well in Germany you cannot even go to the supermarket on Sunday. Everything is closed.
On the other hand, transportation in Germany is LOVELY. The highways are in good conditions, the trains are fast and there is a schedule for when the bus should be passing by (approximately). You can buy train and bus tickets online or in person, go with the subterranean train and with other transportation systems available different in each region. The buses will even go down with an hydraulic system so old people and wheelchairs can get in easier. In Costa Rica if you use a wheelchair better get a car…
In Costa Rica… well… you don’t know when will the bus arrive. Can be that you know it goes each 20 minutes, but that doesn’t really mean anything. Sometimes you would wait for a bus in the city center and, after waiting some time unsuccessfully, someone tells you the stop was moved to who know where, then you have to walk and find it. Traffic on general is terrible.
The available trains are basically for 2 routes/lines and as slow as driving without traffic. And driving… I remember being in a traffic jam for 2h to go to class, 9km from home. In Germany I can go from Hamburg to Denmark in that time (+-230km).
So yeah. Costa Rica is not the paradise jungle the first world thinks we are, and Germany is not that technologically advanced country the third world thinks they are. In fact if you are a medical doctor or an IT specialist, come to Germany, we need you!.