Bellwether state

Costa Rica | Though conflicted about sweeping economic changes, Costa Rica is where Central America looks for pura vida | Clint Rainey

Surfers and families enjoy a beach in Guanacaste.

San José, Costa Rica— Enrique Carranza has what his countrymen call pura vida—a pure, simple, enviable existence that captures the essence of life in Costa Rica.

He is young, single, and carefree. He likes gallo pinto and whiles away evening hours on his breezy hammock with Imperial longnecks and José Capmany albums. Most weekends, he packs up and surfs at Playa Jaco.

But a decade of high-tech development and pro-business reforms has remade Costa Rica, and with it the idea of pura vida. Prized now are Carranza's bilingualism, his computer science degree from Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, and his job as a network support specialist at chipmaker giant Intel's 2,000-employee La Ribera compound outside of San José.