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I have traveled throughout Costa Rica. It is a beautiful country filled with usually friendly people. Many speak English, or at least enough to get by, and it is not difficult to learn enough Spanish to get by, either. Government is mixed social democratic, but they openly encourage small business and welcome tourists. The coffee plantations in the mountains a source of significant affluence, as well as the coastal resorts. Third world-style poverty is not nearly as visible as in Mexico, but it's there. Far from perfect, but I could live there. You had better really like red beans and rice, though - they serve it at every meal. ;-)