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Costa Rica Culture

A Reflection of the Vivacious, Happy-go-lucky People

Costa Rica, the land of the "Ticos" (as the Costa Ricans refer to themselves- "ticos" for male and "ticas" for females), has become an important travel destination on the world tourism map, as much for its strategic location in Central America- surrounded by Nicaragua to its north, the seemingly endless Pacific ocean to its west and south, Panama to its south and south-east and the Caribbean sea to the east-as for its unique and deep-rooted culture and the warm and friendly people that inhabit this country.

People of Costa Rica

Majority of the 4 million population of Costa Rica call themselves "whites". This expression has nothing to do with racism, which admittedly afflicts some other societies in Latin America, but merely something the Costa Ricans take pride in. Of course, the effect of imperialism may undoubtedly have had an impact.

The people of Costa Rica have built themselves a reputation for being extremely peace loving and friendly. The Ticos value their traditions and culture immensely, which have not been diluted by foreign influences. Courteous, helpful and law-abiding by nature in general, Costa Ricans look down upon violence of any kind.

Family is a key element of the social and cultural fabric of Costa Rica and strong familial ties characterize the society. It is very common to find immediate and extended families get together, along with friends to jointly participate in events like births, marriages, death.

The family usually lives together unlike in many other Latin American countries, which seem to have adopted a more nuclear family structure, and the children live with their parents till marriage. Even while they value their personal freedom quite a lot, the life of an average Costa Rican centers on his family and society.

Another key aspect of the society and culture of Costa Rica is that tradition defines and dictates the roles of males and females. They play very different and specific roles in society. While there has certainly been evolution with the times, Costa Ricans can be termed conservative by nature. Women are educated and even hold important offices; however, they continue to play the traditional roles of a daughter, wife and mother with aplomb.

The culture of a populace can be shaped by the education that is imparted to its citizens, and in Costa Rica, education is given considerable importance, which can be seen with the almost 96% literacy rate. The economic growth of the country in recent times can be attributed, in no small measure, to this importance placed on education, and thereby, creating a high quality workforce.

Food & Beverage

Food and beverage becomes such an integral part of one's culture that it is impossible to ignore those when discussing culture. For example, the Japanese love their sushi and sake, the Aussies love their beer, Italians their pasta and the Ticos… their coffee! Costa Ricans, like the Columbians, love their coffee and they prefer it to be strong. Two coffee breaks in a work day is part f the work culture.

Besides coffee, chicken, beef and fish form an important part of the daily diet of Costa Ricans. Moreover, they have an appetite for fried foods while the staple diet consists of rice and beans.

Inevitably, cuisine in Costa Rica has been influenced by food in various countries. However, they have been quite successful in creating a distinct cuisine which they can call their very own.

 

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