Kerbi and I started working on our Costa Rican residency about eight months ago in June of 2010. In preparation for this process, we had to gather a ton of official documents, have them certified and authenticated by the Costa Rican Consulate’s Office, then translated into Spanish. After all of our preparation, it was finally time to take the paperwork down to the immigration office to submit our application for a temporary residency status in the country, which will allow us to stay for two years at a time. This process is complicated even for a native Spanish speaker, but we managed to leave our first meeting with the immigration official only in need of one more document. This is where my story begins.
We went to the United States Embassy in pursuit of our last necessary document, and received what we needed to proceed with the process. The next day, I began my morning by walking to the bus stop where I waited thirty minutes to squeeze onto a bus that was so crowded that I had to stand just inside the open bus door. It was a little nerve racking standing only a foot from the pavement whizzing by, but at the same time it was nice because my backpack was facing outward where no one could mess with it, and I had an ample amount of fresh diesel perforated air to prevent me from dying from the dehydration caused by torrential sweating. When I reached down-town San Jose I walked about a mile to my next bus stop. This walk is always a little stressful because downtown San Jose is full of “ladrones”, or thieves, and it’s impossible to walk without being jostled and bumped by the crowd. Paranoia sometimes sets in , and every little bump can seem like a robbery attempt, but I managed to make it to my second bus stop unscathed, passport, wallet, and phone in tact.
After a little while, as I was waiting for my next bus to the immigration office, I felt my backpack being bumped just a little too often. I knew it wasn’t normal. After about the third bump I realized that the guy behind me was trying to pickpocket the “gringo”, so I turned and asked him to stop and “pase!” Thank goodness he did, wanting to avoid any hassle or attention, and soon after, I boarded my bus. The first stop was at the main hospital in Costa Rica, so the bus was full of sick people. Costa Rica has socialized healthcare, so citizens are able to go to the hospital freely for any need, regardless of how small it may be.
This just wasn’t my day. The bus ride to immigration was a long one…we stopped to pick up more people every few miles, and after about thirty minutes, as I was beginning to lull into drowsiness, I felt a swipe on my back pocket. I was standing in the aisle because this bus was crowded, leaving my pockets exposed. I knew that there wasn’t anything in my back pocket, so in the beginning I ignored the attempt, but about five minutes later, I felt another swipe. I turned around to face the man, and tried to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible. I wanted him to know that I knew what he was up to without making a scene, and again, my tactic worked.
I finally arrived at the immigration office, and was directed to a line of about fifty people. Like many situations here in CR, I was the only “gringo” present. I really do cherish these opportunities, because I know the Lord places people around me, and in this case, it provided me with great chance to practice my Spanish despite my limited comprehension and fluency. It just so happed that I sat down by a newly married couple and began listening to their story right there in the immigration office line. The man was Costa Rican, and his new wife was from Mexico. They decided to flee Mexico after they married because of the increasing violence and invasive drug war taking over the country. He explained how hard it had been for them because many (not all) Costa Rican’s treat them as “aliens” and outsiders. After about an hour, my number was called, and I submitted the last of our paperwork and the agent informed me that the application process was COMPLETE, and now, we just had to wait for the results. Thank you Jesus!
I left feeling a great sense of accomplishment after submitting all of the necessary documentation, but also experienced a feeling of utter helplessness. Our future legal status and ability to stay in this country where we were called to serve depends entirely on the staff’s opinion about us on paper. Thanks and praise be to our all powerful God who has the power to lead us through His will, whom we can rest our worries and apprehension on without despair! I boarded the bus back to downtown San Jose and saw that there were a few men standing in the aisle again. Directly to my left, as I entered, I saw an open seat next to a lady, so I sat down beside her. Another unsuspecting subject to practice my Spanish on! I soon found out that she was a citizen of Nicaragua, which is Costa Rica’s neighbor to the north; a nation stricken with poverty, and little work. She began sharing her story with me, and told me that she had applied for residency in Costa Rica 5 times, and had been denied each time, even though she had been living and working here for ten years. Each time, she musters the determination to try once again. She saves and saves to be able to afford the process, and asks her relatives in Nicaragua to mail her the necessary paperwork, then stands in lines after lines only to be denied again.
During this process, I have realized that we can work hard, prepare well, but in the end, it’s up to the Lord to prepare us and protect us. Even though Kerbi and I are not “rich” by American standards, and live in a way far less comfortable than the average American, we have to realize that we ARE rich in the eyes of many who live here. As Americans, many times we are the targets for robberies, thefts, and petty pick pocketing, but we also have the luxury of opportunity that the majority of our worldly brothers and sisters just don’t have. Our American passport many times is like an “express” pass, or a “get out of jail free” card, that we rarely take the time to appreciate. Already, my compassion for those around me has deepened profoundly, and I am continually striving to look at them, and really SEE them through the eyes of a true follower of Jesus.
-Jeremy
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