Week #2:  Due Monday, February 13th 

            Through this weeks blog assignment I have learned a few new things about food customs in Costa Rica, and especially in my family.  When I asked them about their “native” foods they responded with many answers similar to last weeks questions like gallo pinto and aguadulce, but they also went on to include some of the foods that they grow here like many tropical fruits.  They said that there were many different things that grow locally here and that is what make their food so good.

            As far as the customs related to food, I learned most of them by watching the way that they eat and participate in meals.  In my family I have never eaten alone.  We always sit down and eat together, and even when I have other dinner plans I join them in the living room as they eat, and I am still offered food.  As far as lunch and breakfast go, my family does not usually get to eat together.  I know that for breakfast my mom makes everyone their own personal plates, as they are getting ready.  So on some days I begin my breakfast as my dad finishes his, and my oldest sister sometimes begins hers as I finish mine.  While my youngest sister eats before most of us are awake with the exception of my mom and sometimes my dad.  My mom told me that during the day whoever is at home will eat together, but it is usually a smaller more informal meal.  At breakfast, because we eat at different times, our plates are prepared in the kitchen and served to us individually.  As for dinner though all of the food is placed in the middle of the table, we say a blessing, and then we serve ourselves. 

            One other food related custom that I have noticed in my family is my sister’s involvement in the preparation of the meal.  Some nights they just set the table, and other nights they prepare the whole meal giving their mother a break.  This is such a neat things to me because it is a lot like it was in my home in the U.S when I was younger.  If I was home I always assisted my Momma with dinner in some way.  I hope that by the end of my stay here I am able to help in the preparation of our meals, but for now I am lucky if they let me walk my own dirty plate to the sink.

            I also have noticed that my family structures their day around eating, or at least around eating supper.  They will wait until everyone is home, except when the dad has to work really late, before they begin the meal, and they wait for everyone to come to the table before they serve themselves.  It is really neat to me that they hold such importance in their family meals.  I know that in the south this is a custom that you may find in the U.S., whereas we had family meals every night for the majority of my life, but it is not as common as I feel it is here.  Even with breakfast I am lucky if I grab a granola bar in the U.S., but here my mom does not let anyone leave without a nice, filling, sit down breakfast.  They see it as the only way to start a day.  I have also noticed that in my Tica home, dinner is one of the only times of the day where everyone is just together.  They talk and joke and catch up on each other.  It is truly awesome to see how food, and their customs for it, brings them closer even if it is just for that one hour out of the day.

            Just after two weeks in Costa Rica I have already learned so many new things about the food customs in the country.  I have also learned, maybe more importantly, that their food customs are their cultural customs as well.  It is a amazing thing to experience, and I am so glad that I get the chance to experience it.

For my photos I have included a picture of my typical breakfast and a specific dinner that I have received in my Tica home.  I excluded a lunch picture because I usually just eat a sandwich or a wrap at Meso, so it is not all that exciting.  For the breakfast picture I have included a picture of the breakfast that we received at the coffee plantation on our first day in Costa Rica.  I chose to use this picture because it is typical of the type of breakfast that I have.  I always have at least three fruits, gallo pinto, and some form of bread and cheese (I also chose it because my breakfast for the last two mornings has been cereal because I have been in a hurry).  As far as dinner, I have added my dinner from tonight.  This is a very good representation of the types of dinners that we have each night.  However, tonight our food was already on the plate when we got to the table, which is unusual.