“Me only have one ambition, y'know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together - black, white, Chinese, everyone - that's all.”
― Bob Marley
In
Toronto, the city with the multicultural heartbeat and with people constantly
streaming in from all corners of the globe it is easy to hear the word
‘culture’ being thrown around everywhere. In Jamaica too, many times when I
hear someone declaring that “Mi proud ah mi culture” it is usually in reference
to the surface aspects of one’s culture or the 4D’s (as internship manager
Larissa describes it), that is –diet, dress, dance and design. With all
the festivals such as Caribana happening in and around the city, it is
easy to assume that by observing the tip of the iceberg such as hearing the
dialect and tasting dishes from a particular region, that one has suddenly become
an expert in understanding what makes that culture what it is. Edward T. Hall
to whom the iceberg theory of culture can be credited did mention that the only
way to really understand the culture of others is to actively participate in
it. This summer, I got the opportunity to participate a bit in the Costa Rican
culture. Here’s what I found:
Something
that truly made an impact on me was how family oriented and loving the culture
seemed to be. The first time I noted this was while I sat eating my rice and
beans in a restaurant in Cariari; the meal I got after several unsuccessful
attempts of explaining what I really wanted. When my final request for coconut
water resulted in me getting a bottle of diet coke, I gave up. As I sat
watching the passers- by, I noticed a common trend with couples holding
hands, some very young, and even an older couple gazing lovingly into
eachother’s eyes as they conversed. Very soon, I realized that this was a very
common trend in Costa Rica where families tended to stick together and
displaying acts of affection towards each other even in public was by no means
uncommon. On the other hand in the Jamaican culture this
type of public show of affection is more rare as this would draw a few
stares and even giggles from some children. This is not to say that family
is not very important in my culture, but I found that the degree to which this
strong family system was displayed in Costa Rica exceeded what I was accustomed
to back at home. At least, the affection shown was much more pronounced here
than I had ever experienced it before. There was just a certain magnetism that
kept me feeling welcomed just by seeing how families treated each other.
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| Fresh water turtles hanging out in the sun. |
I’m almost sure that all the interns who have gone to Costa Rica
have referred now and then to the “pura vida” way of life. On speaking to a
local, he explained that this translated to mean ‘pure life’ but was also used
to mean "going great", 'it’s my pleasure', "awesome" and other phrases that highlighted
the relaxed , easy going way of life of the Costa Ricans. This easy
going attitude was also evident in the way that people went about
adhering to time commitments. Now I’m sure you have all heard about “Caribbean
time”. Caribbean people are generally known to not be on time for anything. There have been many occasions where I started to get dressed at the time
when something was about starting. This is especially true for social
events…these tend to be all day simply because no one is ever on time.
Therefore, fitting into the slower paced Costa Rican lifestyle came naturally,
(finally my way!!), where people took the time to notice the sunrise and life in
general seemed to flow at a more timely pace. In North America however, I have
had to get accustomed to being on time and always being busy. Everything becomes
a huge race to finish. Even tasks such as doing laundry become a head ache even
with so many washing machines.In the Caribbean many people wash loads of
clothes by hand but still there seems to be more time. In Canada we have daily lists that we need to get through
and so visiting friends and family also
becomes apart of the regular schedule. Unlike in the Caribbean, my North
American counterparts schedule family visits and dates weeks in advance therefore,
dropping by someone’s house unexpectedly is rather unheard of. In contrast to the
Caribbean a van load of people will show up at your house and expect you to have
enough to feed them and their 10 children. While this scheduling and planning
ahead makes for a very organized, efficient society, the slower paced relaxed
atmosphere of Costa Rica was refreshing, at least for summer. Thinking back to Jamaica though, I realized
too that the high level of unemployment was another reason why it would appear as if there is more time to spare. However, the discussion of unemployment is a whole other story which I can't get into right now.
Laguna de Apoyo (not CR but Nicaragua)
Thought we'd honour York on the beach.
Another thing I noticed in Costa Rica and something that Larissa
had pointed out before was that skinny was not really in. Even if a girl
was very slim a common trend in CR was that she still had “assets”. This was
comparable to my culture in that when I get home, the first thing
everyone wants to know is why I look like a stick. Why is my collar bone
visible? In fact as soon as I get home my mother cooks a lot more simply
because she claims I need to “look like somebody’s child.” How could I have walked around looking like I was malnourished for so many months in Canada? So I engorge myself in fried chicken, yams, rice, buns and all that. It came as
a complete surprise then when girls in Canada wanted to be my size while here I
was spending extra cash on fries to gain weight before my trip home. I still don’t
understand it. In fact I’m quite confused. In Costa Rica, I guess a lady
with curves as is the case in Jamaica, suggests that she is healthy and
attractive. Whereas in Canada the same is opposite, people spend hours in the
gym and a salad is all most have for dinner. Many times in the Caribbean, a
salad is just a small portion of a much larger meal and when I say much larger,
I mean that half your plate is covered in meat and rice and only a small
portion is carrots and cabbage- in such a tiny portion that it acts more as decoration than much contribution to health.
Breakfast Tica style!
Trying to make contrasts with my own personal culture and that of
the Costa Rican culture was rather difficult since both are Caribbean countries
and the mind set and way of life are so similar. However, the contrasts that I
did find were more applicable to the Canadian culture which has become a very
big part of my life. The need to be extremely organized here is very good I guess...I'll let you know when I decide.
Me and Maggie :)
Pictures taken by Sarah and Mariya :)
