But Anyways, I had to write a paper about my experience with the Costa Rican culture and after I wrote I figured I might as well share! So here is my paper I hope you like it.
My time in Costa Rica has been a major eye opener. It is my first time out of the US, not including Canada, and the first thing I noticed and loved was that there was very little English. Seeing the signs that say Alto instead of stop and the billboards in Spanish made me feel relief. In the US everything from our history books to our news is all about us, and it’s nice to know that there are places in the world where not everything is all about us. As I have spent more time in Costa Rica, having everything in Spanish still makes me smile, but I have also learned that my Spanish skills need a lot of work. I find it really stressful trying to communicate when shopping or simply walking around especially since people commonly mistake me for Tica and try to talk to me like I am fluent. I am working on being more confident in what little I do know and just hoping they understand that I am still learning. That is one barrier that I have found I have when trying to get to know Costa Rica better.
On the other side, on place where Costa Rica and I seem to completely agree (to the point where I may never leave) is food. The food here is absolutely amazing and I find that I can’t get enough. Everything they cook is so fresh and my addiction to avocados is easy to appease. I love trying everything that I can find and anything I am offered, even foods that I would normally say no to, I am seeing how I like them. I have decided that before I leave I need to learn how to cook at least one full Costa Rican meal. Beyond the meals I have also found a love for their beverages. I love the freshness of their juices and their té frío is delicious, my weakness specifically is the melócoton, yum.
Besides food, one part of their culture that I also adore is the way that they open their homes to people. As we were surveying the town of Torito, almost every house we went to we were invited in and told to take a seat. I could never imagine that happening in the US. If someone asked me to take a survey I would likely say no, and if I decided to take it, it would most definitely happen at my front door, on the porch. As well, our sponsor has shown us much kindness. Letting us stay in his beach house, feeding us, and making sure we were always comfortable. This even applied during our first meeting with him where he made sure that we were supplied with bottled water because we hadn’t had time to get used to the tap waster. And our sponsor’s father also treated us to a coffee break where he supplied us with books on Costa Rica, some homemade snacks, some guava juice and gave us some guayabitas to go. Their hospitality is something that I hope to learn from and carry with me.
I also quite enjoy their driving. Being a pedestrian is definitely scary but I have to say I’ve always thought our way of thinking about driving was a little backwards. It doesn’t make sense to me that pedestrians should be able to walk around carelessly when, if there is an accident between them and a car they are the ones who get hurt, its always made more sense to me that pedestrians should just watch out. And although it has been difficult to get used to, deep down it makes me happy that if you are stupid enough to get in a cars way you will get hurt. I know that sounds bad but it is the truth.
So far not only am I currently thoroughly enjoying Costa Rica, to the point where I am almost sure now that the moment I get the chance I will be out of the US for at least the next few years, but I am learning a lot about myself in the process.
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