Costa Rica

Greetings

Man greeting Man - Men shake hands when greeting one another and maintain direct eye contact. At a first meeting a handshake will suffice and is sometimes combined with slight touches on the arms and/or elbows

Woman greeting Woman- At a first meeting, women shake hands or give a light touch on the forearm. Friends and close acquaintances generally kiss each other once on the cheek.

Man greeting Woman- At a first meeting a regular handshake will do. Friends, family and close acquaintances may share a light kiss on the cheek.

Communication Style

• Costa Ricans tend to take a more indirect path when communicating, requiring creative speaking and listening techniques.

Personal Space & Touch

• Costa Ricans are comfortable standing close to one another while talking. One to two feet is normal.
• An arm’s length or less is the norm between friends and family.
• For business colleagues it is arm’s length at first, once there is more trust in the relationship, it could be less.
• There is a fair amount of touching between men and men, and women and women and men and women while conversing.

Eye Contact

• Costa Ricans tend to favor direct eye contact over indirect.
• During conversations sustained eye contact is commonplace rather than sporadic.
• Direct eye contact is necessary if you want to deliver a consistent message, therefore, when speaking to elderly, superiors and people who you want to show respect for, you should always try to maintain direct eye contact.
• In informal situations, direct eye contact is not needed 100%. In this case, if you stare too much, you could be misunderstood.

Gestures

• For pointing, using one finger is normal, but could be considered rude if you are pointing to person in a very obvious way. Using your whole hand is the way to go..
• A common gesture is to clap one hand with the backside of the other hand and then drag that second hand down. It means "lets leave a place or “let’s go”.

Views of Time

• Costa Ricans tend to place more emphasis on people and relationships than to the strict adherence of set schedules in social situations.
• In most social situations, you can expect people to arrive late (around 5 to 15 minutes is acceptable). Depending on the person or group of person and their group dynamics, this period of time could be more like 20 to 30 minutes.
• Being late could be seen as acceptable to some people (depending on their tolerance to this). To others, it is rude.
• Public transportation usually runs on time, but sometimes does run late (like 5 to 10 minutes is normal) When in business situations, running late is considered irresponsible unless the organizational culture and/or the superiors are permissive or indifferent.

Gender Roles

• Costa Rica has a macho culture and women are often treated differently men. Most women are expected to do all the housework, all the cooking, etc.
• Cat calls are common toward women walking in the streets but the advances usually stop at that.
• It’s acceptable for women to dine alone, but going to local bars and clubs unaccompanied is not advised.
• Most roles are accepted, although it’s not common to see women collecting garbage, on construction sites or doing any strength related labor. You may see a few driving buses or cabs, but just a few.
• It is rather unacceptable for women to talk about or issues related to sexuality with men.
  
• Also, it’s rather unacceptable for women to be as promiscuous as men, or flaunt it like men to.

Taboos

• Putting your thumb in between your middle and index finger while making a fist is an obscene gesture.
• Putting one’s feet on the furniture is considered extremely bad form.
• Being excessively drunk in public can be seen as impolite and people might think you are not a trustworthy person.

Law & Order

• The legal drinking age is 18 and it is enforced in most situations and places, but there are exceptions. Smoking age is also 18 and it is also enforced.
• Possession of drugs usually results in jail time. When there is a recurrence or drug dealing involved, its heavily enforced.
• Other laws, like the restriction to have sexual relations with minors is heavily enforced.

Dress

• For men: the appropriate clothing would be formal business clothes, like in any other country. Suit and tie. Conservative dark colored suits with shirt and conservative ties. It’s best to keep the jacket on at all times.
• For women: Stylish business suits or dresses and matching shoes. Pants are fine. It's best to avoid clothing that is too revealing.

Titles & Business Cards

• Titles are very important and it is best to address people directly by using their professional title or Don for men and Dona for women, followed by the surname.
• Mr. and Mrs. Is commonly used. Depending on the academic degree of the person, the word Licenciado (Licenciada for women) can be used.
• It is advisable, although not required, to have one side of your business card translated into Spanish.
• Present your business card with the Spanish side facing the recipient.

Meetings

• Arriving on time for a meeting is important as Costa Ricans tend be quite punctual in business situations.
• There is usually some form of small talk before getting down to business. It is best to allow your host to begin the business discussion.
• Suitable topics include: local culture, family, history, politics, soccer.

Negotiations

• Costa Ricans value relationship building and harmony so it is important to avoid hard selling, pressure tactics and any sort of conflict or confrontation.
• Costa Ricans use and respond best to indirect communication style over direct.
• Decisions are usually made through a group consensus and can be lengthy before they are reached.

Gift Giving

• Gifts are usually not brought to a first meeting.
• If invited to a Costa Rican house, it is appropriate to bring flowers (avoid lilies as they mean death), wine, spirits, or chocolates.
• Make sure that gifts are nicely wrapped and they are usually to be opened right away.

In the Classroom

• The school year normally begins the 2nd week of February. Some private schools begin a couple of weeks later. Most public universities also begin in the first 2 weeks of February except for the University of Costa Rica, which begins the first week of March. Other private universities have a 4 month class period, so their cycle is different.
  
• Dress at most schools is casual. Students usually wear shirts, sweaters, slacks or jeans most of the time. Shorts are not as common.
• Most university grades are given on a 0 to 10 scale with ten being the highest. The failing grade in most institutions is bellow 7.
• The most common form of teaching is lecture, but group work, discussions and experiments are also used depending on the subject.

Other Observations

• When taking a taxi, make sure the meter is on, and that the taxi driver doesn’t charge more than it shows at the end of the run.