There is no newspaper as such in Atenas, so how do you find out what is happening? Asked one of my blog readers who is considering a move to Costa Rica with Atenas one of several places on his radar. Here is my answer to him as written in an email and decided to share with all because I know some other readers are also considering Atenas:
There is no Atenas newspaper. Expats get information in many ways, often through Facebook which is not my personal favorite media.
One of the best is a closed group (meaning you just join before you get to see the messages) and the joining is just a click and if asked why, tell them you are thinking about moving to Atenas. The questions asked are quite widespread and help you learn a lot about Atenas, plus you can post any question you have at anytime. https://www.facebook.com/groups/atenascostaricainfo/I enjoy and learn from reading many of the posts that come to me as emails, then I click on the button at bottom of email “View on Facebook” to read all the answers different people give. Quite interesting!
A “Public Group” I think you still need to join to get email notices of posts tends to be more local and therefore more in Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/groups/121660851190044/
Another FB group for expats in Atenas is called “New Community” and is the expat, English-speaking, mostly Americans who attend the English speaking services at Iglesia Biblical, the evangelical church for Atenas. If you are what I remember as a “typical Texan” Southern Baptist or other evangelical, you will like the people (multiple denominations) and monthly fellowships and possible the Tuesday night Bible Study in English, Wednesday night English Prayer Meeting worship/Bible study and the first Sunday big worship in English or translated to English. The First Sunday service is followed by a potluck lunch at one of the expat’s home or occasionally out at a restaurant. Good fellowship. https://www.facebook.com/groups/145046998883605/
Andrew Partain’s page is mostly about real estate and his ReMax company rentals and houses for sale: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.partain.988?fref=ts
And many other FB groups that you might find interesting and helpful like Costa Rica by Bus, special interest groups like the birding club I’ve already introduced you to, etc. Now the funny thing about a small country town is that fiestas, parades, etc. are mostly learned about by word of mouth and not advertising. A few events will have signs up around town in some businesses and there is a big bulletin board at La Coope Super you can check when grocery shopping. But you still may walk to Central Park any day or night and stumble upon some celebration or fiesta you never heard about.
Not a lot of help, but Facebook is the biggest communicator among locals and maybe expats too. Whatsapp is popular locally because it is free messaging if you have WiFi connection. Most locals use a prepaid cell phone that costs by the minute and that is what I use.
TWO MORE THINGS I FORGOT TO INCLUDE IN THE ABOVE EMAIL:
One lady expat in Atenas sends out an email newsletter once a month to whomever subscribes called Atenas Today which has various kinds of articles including news about coming events. And a list of all the Atenas expats who agree to be listed with whatever address or phone they want to share. Many find this helpful. To get on the list for this newsletter email atenastoday@gmail.com
There is a restaurant called Kay’s Gringo Postres that sends out a weekly newsletter with their menu as promotion of restaurant that includes articles about gringos and some coming events. They also communicate with a Facebook Page. I’m trying to blend in with the local culture, so I personally try not to hang out with gringos too much and thus don’t frequent the restaurant much.
And there are probably more, but nothing is better than local friends to know what is going on in a small country town!
