Starts with "C" and ends with "osta Rica"!
Do you know who the happiest country in the Western world is?
Norway!
Or so it concluded the Happy Planet Index 2012 developed by the New Economics Foundation in the UK. http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data/
So I am happy to be related to both happy-certified countries.
Naturally, there will be skeptics, by nature or method, arguing that such global indexes are rubbish or that people in Costa Rica or Norway are not "that, happy happy"... (each country facing its own local dilemmas).
Fair enough.
But I must say that whenever I am back home, I´ve always been charmed by my own country's come-what-may attitude. People complain about many things, true, but they are exceedingly good at not being too consumed by their problems. Humor as detox. Apart from their driving, which can be uncivilized and even aggresive, especially at peak hours, Costa Ricans are a happy bunch.
And from the little I have seen in Oslo, I do believe have the impression Norwegians seem happy with their lifes. I find people here to be very sweet, they smile very easily even strangers smile in the street, at the gym or at the supermarket.
Maybe it is the happy beauty of countries of about 5 million people.
