I learned more than I ever imagined on my summer study abroad trip to Costa Rica. I learned that Costa Rica is a country like no other. The country is much different than what the United States of America is like. The lifestyles, customs, and practices of Costa Rica are very different than those that I am accustomed to. As an outsider looking into the country, I saw a country that is very poor financially but very rich in spirit. They do not appreciate wealth as United States citizens do, but instead appreciate love and gratitude. I noticed that Costa Ricans have very strong family values and cultural roots. A common saying that is associated with Costa Rica is "Pura Vida" meaning a "pure or simple life”. Ticos would use this saying on a daily basis while talking with each other or to our tour group. While on this study abroad trip, I saw Costa Ricans live this kind of life day in and day out. Civilians took on each day with simplicity and happiness. They appeared to live without worries, stress, or complaints. After my visit to Costa Rica, …show more content…
San Jose was a large city full of American influence. There were several American restaurants and businesses in sight. Ticos dressed to support American sports teams like the New York Yankees. On the other hand, Tortuguero was a very poor city. This part of the country was the least modernized out of the provinces that we visited. They had no roads in the town, no air conditioning, and visitors had to pay to use public restrooms. The people were extremely hard working and would do whatever they could to earn money. After speaking to merchants in the town, it seemed like women painted and sold crafty items like clay pots while men carved wood statues. The towns of Sarapiqui, Arenal, and Guanacaste seemed to be occupied by rich and poor people. They lived together in unison, selling many different types of food and
side of a border town made Smeltertown residents American, Perales looks at how they also never left their Mexican culture and customs behind. The San Jose’ de Cristo Rey Catholic parish served as a place for Esmeltianos to reimagine what it meant to be racially and culturally Mexican in an American border town. The Catholic chapel on the hill became the locus of what it meant to Mexican in a border town. Through their sense of community and the Catholic parish, Esmeltianos retained many aspects of their Mexican culture: Spanish language, Mexican patriotism, Catholicism. “Blending elements of national and ethnic pride, shared language, and a common experience with Catholicism provided a foundation on which Esmeltianos reconfigured what it meant to be Mexican in a U.S.
The United States of America and Costa Rica’s constitutions have several similarities and differences. The United States and Costa Rica have two of the most successful constitutional republics in the history of the world. They are alike in several ways, however, there are some major differences that allows them to thrive in their own environments. There are many components that describe the two countries: physical structure, traditions and how the constitutions were established, how the constitutions work, languages, military, religion, education, voting rights, presidential elections, and structure of the legislative branch, presidential terms, vice presidents, and Supreme Court justices.
Since Galarza grew up in a strong community he was able to experience support from the colonia mexicana in Sacramento, while Rodriguez accounts for Mexican immigrants in various locations in California. Most of the immigrants Rodriguez interviewed or witnessed all had a resemblance to nostalgia. He had saw many drunk and lonely Mexican men, some being only teenagers, and even the men who lived with their families were still homesick. Rodriguez even said that, “the city is evil” (66), while meeting a preacher whose early years were all about drugs, gangs, and being a “junkie”. While most of everything Rodriguez experienced were negative, Galarza had an opposite perspective. It may have be the different locations or time periods that both authors experienced the immigrants lives, but the relations between the Mexicans were more than just the family they had to support, and instead it was the whole community. As Mexicans migrated to the community in Sacramento that Galarza grew up in, they became chicanos, and they were “the name of an unskilled worker born in Mexico and just arrived in the United States” (267). It was so much easier to for the immigrants to make money since the fellow Mexicans provided assistance to those in need of jobs or a place to live, and of it was provided by trusting one another. The community helped keep the Mexican heritage strong and tried avoiding becoming an American by speaking their native language, celebrating holidays they would normally celebrate in Mexico, and by not turning
Would you prefer vacationing in a dense jungle or a scorching hot desert? Thankfully, I have had the privilege to do both. Over the past year, I have traveled to the beautiful rainforests of Costa Rica and the barren wilderness of Bonaire. By studying the parallels and differences of both destinations, one has the ability to understand the travel expectations, habitats, and activities of Costa Rica and Bonaire.
During the process of this research paper this semester sources we have been using different sources to create a strong argument and support my point of view regarding Mexican businessmen in El Paso. Among the sources we are using, primary and secondary, historian Mario T Garcia’s book, Dessert Immigrants: The Mexicans of El Paso, 1880-1920, is one of them, and most likely, the most important. The book was published on September 10, 1982. The book is an exceptional work dealing with details, statistics, and historical events related to the Mexican journey to the United States. In his book, Garcia spent an entire chapter talking about obreros y comerciantes (labors and merchants) and what their economic activities were in order to support their dream of getting enough money in the United States and come back to Mexico afterwards.
femininity in regards to culture. The country of Costa Rica is considered an incredibly feminine culture, which means that stress falls more on caring and nurturing behaviors and overlapping emotional gender roles (Cultures and Organizations) as opposed to Canada that identifies as a more masculine culture. A masculine culture reflects traits such as ambition, stress on wealth and material success as well as more differentiated gender roles. Costa Ricans typically have more of a focus on the quality of life and caring and living with one another (Cultural Insights). The feminine characteristics of Costa Rica are also reflected in the way fluid gender roles are more prominent, as Costa Rica ranks first among Latin American countries regarding gender equality (The World Economic Forum). A large amount of women are present in both government and business roles, there is not a large distinction between men and women in this world. Also, women are involved in harvesting coffee, cotton and vegetables in and among the men (Countries and Their Cultures) and there is very high acceptance for women in the working world (Cultural Insights). What motivates people in this feminine country of Costa Rica is to enjoy and find pleasure in what they do rather then just working in order to live (Cultures and
Buschges, Christian. Don Manuel Valdivieso y Carrion Protests the Marriage of His Daughter to Don Teodoro Jaramillo, a Person of Lower Social Standing. Colonial Lives: Documents on Latin American History 1550-1850. Edited by Richard Boyer & Geoffrey Spurling. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Costa Rica lies in the tropics and originated as a land of peaceful people and lush ecosystems. The Costa Rica of today is much different than a simple ideal tourist location. It is a country that ranks among the world’s highest in biodiversity. In addition, there is no separation between church and state. It is a country with a woman president and no army. The economy of Costa Rica is challenged on a daily basis and the education of its residents is recognizable. The purpose of this paper is to introduce readers to the many unique facets of the small Spanish speaking country of Costa Rica. My intent is to present information about the country’s geographical facts, biodiversity and ecotourism, religion, education, government and economical status.
Human habitation can be traced back more than 10,000 years but it appears Costa Rica was sparsely populated and a relative backwater in the pre-Columbian era. There is little sign of major communities and none of the impressive stone architecture that characterized the more advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica to the north and the Andes to the south. When Columbus arrived near Lim¢¢n on September 18, 1502 on his third and last voyage to the Americas, there were probably no more than 20,000 indigenous inhabitants They lived in several autonomous tribes, all with distinct cultures and customs. Costa Rica's only major archaeological site is at Guayabo, 30 miles east of San Jos‚‚, where an ancient city, dating back to 1000 B.C. and though to have contained 10,000 people at its peak, is currently being excavated. Many interesting gold, jade and pottery artefacts have been found throughout the region and are on display in several museums in San Jose.
I was to leave to the Dominican Republic at 10p.m. on a Thursday night. My flight was with Tower Air and it was leaving John F. Kennedy airport. I had to be there three hours before departure and I was I was there at 7p.m. It felt like they longest wait of my life. At 9:30p.m,they announced that we would not be leaving on time because the plane had technical difficulties. Our flight would now leave at 12p.m. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. It was a nightmare. They had already changed my flight like five times before. I was leaving one day, then I was leaving the next and so on. Then they wait for the last minute and the food shop had closed, so there is about a good 200 or so people without food and all upset cursing up a storm. To top it all off, half of the people there were teenagers going to the Dominican Republic to play baseball. Can you imagine? A hundred something kids hungry and sleepy screaming their lungs out.
Once I was able to dig deeper I found out that Costa Rica is a very interesting country with fun and exciting adventures waiting like; hiking next to a volcano at night, rappelling down a waterfall, or ever soaking in a hot spring. I do not know about you but my bags are packed and I’m headed for the airport right now. If only I did not have class tomorrow, I can dream right? Well the first major topic I am going to start with is the general overview of Costa Rica, so let us get started shall we.
Like many other Latin American countries, Costa Rica has a strong connection with Roman Catholicism which is the official religion of the country and the prevalent one. The population is predominately Catholic with about 18% of it being part of other Christian Churches that include Methodist, Mormon, Baptist, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are many privileges that the Roman Catholic Church has and these include Catholic marriages are automatically recognized by the government while marriages of other faiths have to go legalized it through a civil union. The Roman Catholic Church also has a strong communication channel with the Costa Rican government and influences the response to economic, political, and social problems.
Moreover, violence in Costa Rica affect People who travel to Costa rica, and dwellers. It is because violence occur everywhere in Costa Rica such as School, home and all communities in Costa Rica. One example is that robberies in Costa rica were stolen cash, cameras, U.S. passports and bags from american tourists(embassy of united states, n. d.). This situation can lead to settlement in other places that has not have any criminal threats or lower than costa rica, and Slow down the economic growth because government need to address this problem to drive improve their society, after that government can drive their economy. This problem can also be the part of declining relation with friendly neighbors because if the country had a high rate of crime other country will not do business with costa rica
My sophomore year, I went on a trip to Costa Rica with my Spanish class, and I was amazed by how the foreign landscape and culture contrasted to home. Multiple times in my life I have driven over the border into Canada, but many elements of the culture, and all the environmental conditions were similar to those of Maine. Seeing the completely different environment of Costa Rica was an incredible experience because I was exposed to a biome unlike the one I live in. Observing animals I'd never seen was an incredible experience. Ear piercing howler monkeys screeched from the tall canopy, sloths' slept hanging upside down from branches, and exotic toucans with multicolored beaks perched on treetops. The diverse ecosystem of the damp rain forest amazed me; these foreign plants and
One exciting event was when we went to a park where I got to go zip lining, rock climbing, and swing on a huge tarzan swing. Another day we got to go to a hot spring waterpark. I got to go into a sauna for the first time in my life. They had a really fun water slide that I went on at least ten times. At the end there was a fantastic buffet filled with all kinds of foods and desserts. We got to go to two different markets during the trip. One was in a huge tent pavilion. That was where I got most of my souvenirs. The other one was in a strip mall style set up near the base of a volcano. My favorite place we went to was the zoo that was located in the rainforests of Costa Rica. The zoo had many different animals like big cats, primates, reptiles, and many other animals. My favorite was the butterfly exhibit, where the butterflies flew all around you. I was even able to have the butterflies land on me. They also had a big path through the rainforest that led to some waterfalls. Around the beginning of our time in the zoo, it began to rain. I personally thought that it was pretty cool that it was raining in the rain forest. Most days in Costa Rica were very hot and humid. There was also an hour time