San José and the malls in Costa Rica was packed by the Christmas shopping.

I was watch the evening CBS Evening New on satellite yesterday and the reporter showed how empty shopping centers were in the U.S. I guess she was trying to prove that people were cutting back on their spending due to the recession there.

In Costa Rica things seem to be quite the opposite. Downtown San José is a madhouse. The streets are packed with wall to wall people doing their Christmas shopping. Judging by this beehive of activity you’d never know that there was a world financial crisis.

The malls here are so crowded it takes up to 45 minutes to find a parking space. In order to avoid the Christmas rush at the malls you have to get there early in the morning. The afternoons and evenings are impossible because of the hoards of shoppers.

Yesterday I went to the Hipermás supermarket.  In case you don’t the Hipermás chain is one of the groups of supermarkets owned by Walmart of Central America. Each Hipermás store resembles a giant warehouse.  You’d think you were in a Walmart in the U.S. Retirees will be happy to know they can find many products from the U.S. in these stores. Anyway, yesterday I visited the Hipermás in San Francisco de Heredia and like downtown San José and the malls the place was packed. Costa Ricans and others were stocking up on food and other items for the Christmas festivities. The store was giving away so many free samples of food that one could virtually eat a complete mean while shopping. They were giving away small cups of wine, cake, pastries, cooked meats and much more.