Comparing Latin America and North American Cultures, Day 3

By Bethany Daffern
Edited by Mr. Moreland

It's day three here in Costa Rica and I've finally seen things that normally you wouldn't see back in the United States. One difference I have seen between Costa Rica and the US is Costa Rican's collectivism vs. American's sense of individualism.

For example today we had our first service trip to the Costa Rican community of La Carpio. During the interview we had before we started work the community leaders made sure that they gave everyone in La Carpio some kind of recognition for helping make the community a better place for not only their own family, but for the other people that live in the community as well.

Another thing that I noticed was the time orientation. The people of La Carpio were not in a rush to get the job done, they took their time, made sure that we were all doing everything correctly.

I felt that our service project at La Carpio will be remembered for a long time by both the people of La Carpio and by the students of City High. I really hope that by building roads in their community, we will help them gain title to their own land.

A third cultural pattern which I have noticed is the high contact of Costa Ricans vs. low contact of people from the US. In the States you wouldn't expect someone to run up to you and hug you, unless you REALLY know the person well. But here in Costa Rica it's different. When we visited the high school on Tuesday Ms. Melissa, a Costa Rican English teacher, was very happy to have received the shirt which was being presented to her. All I had expected when giving her the shirt was a simple hand shake and thank you. But instead she hugged me, and at first I thought what's going on? Then I realized that this small token of thanks meant a great deal to her.

This trip and the meaning is finally starting to kick in, and back home we have it good. Many people of Costa Rica has so much less than we do. But yet we as Americans still think we need, need, need. We don't need more things, we need to those who need our help. It doesn't matter who they are, or where they live, we're all in this together. We are a family. We live in a world that we care about, and this experience is helping me and the whole group understand these things, maybe not on day one, but after day three, I'm starting to see the meaning in this.

Adios.