Today is Thanksgiving, and expats here have special reasons to be grateful. Here are some to consider on this day:

• Hurricanes do not make landfall in Costa Rica
• No shoveling the driveway or scraping ice off the windshield.
• Fresh fruit and vegetables are around all year long.
• Medical services are reasonable.
• We do not get upset when the fast food clerk speaks Spanish.
• Public transport is cheap and all over.
• Gorgeous Women
• Iced guaro is as good as Stolichnaya.
• Talk about good coffee!
• There always is a beach nearby.
• How about a pair of hand-made boots?
• Ropa Americana.
• Symphony seats in the Teatro Nacional butaca for a few dollars.
• $2.50-an-hour maid service.
• A garden full of fresh flowers.
• Easy air access to the Great White North.
• Did someone say shrimp?
• Whales and dolphin and other creatures.
• Even in the rainy season the mornings are sunny.
• Umbrellas are cheap from the vendors downtown.
• Where else do you get gallo pinto or chicharones and that fried yucca a la Tico?
• Those beautiful volcanos and rainforests along with thousands of birds?
• Sarchi hardwood furniture.
• Legal gambling.
• La Pops ice cream.
• $200-a-year optional car insurance.
• And most of all the generally sympathetic, friendly Costa Rican people.

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff