MADE IN CHINA BUT NOT BY CHINESE PEOPLE

Costa Rica Cost Of Living Update:   New cell phone- $50      New Soccer Stadium- $0

It is time to buy a new cell phone.  My last one was purchased before the Free Trade Agreement passed and so I paid a whopping $300 for it.  To my surprise the new one only cost $50 and it is a pay as you go kind.  It even has an FM radio upgrade.

It’s an impressive sleek Alcatel, a brand the salesman emphatically defended as a phone made in China but not by Chinese people.  The apparent hostility could be because the new Costa Rica  stadium was funded and built by the Chinese. Literally…they used only 100% Chinese workers. A nice gesture except they built a parking lot for 200 cars, suggesting that each of the 35,000 attendees carpool with 172 other people.

With that in mind, I scoured the internet to find this gushing review of my new phone,  “Absolute rubbish.  COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY!!!”

I’m not sure what China got out of building the stadium but I am guessing it was the right to sell me this crappy phone.

By | 2018-04-15T18:19:59-04:00 December 16th, 2010|Categories: Cost of Living|Tags: |2 Comments

About the Author:

Nadine is the author of the best-selling series, Happier Than A Billionaire. Join her as she navigates living as an expat in the sometimes confusing, always beautiful, country of Costa Rica.

2 Comments

  1. Bill September 6, 2013 at 9:21 pm - Reply

    Go without a phone. Live the quiet life. Who knows what kind of radio waves that thing is putting off.

    • Nadine September 19, 2013 at 8:16 pm - Reply

      There is a lot to be said for getting off the grid. Nothing can replace the sound of the birds and howler monkeys. And who needs the phone ringing to interrupt your morning?

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