Blog Week 3

During my discussion to my family I found that they are only put off by a couple of standard things, like people eating amphibians and roaches. I found this very amusing when my tica sister said this because typically I am put off by those things as well, however, she also said that she is put off by people who eat a lot of frozen or pre-made food. This I found to be notable and yet not very surprising, I have just never really thought of how much frozen or pre-made food I have eaten. In Costa Rica (and probably other places too), food is not just an action, but an occasion, so there is no point in eating something that has been frozen and probably cannot be enjoyed as much as the entire process of cooking or dinning out. In the U.S. we are use to eating quickly or eating out, but there is not usually an in between for us. It is sad that we have gone away from this act, but I believe that for a society to proceed and increase rapidly, in some way, that some luxuries need to be sacrificed momentarily.

In Costa Rica, I have found, that food can say many different things about a person. My research has found that if you are too skinny, then you "do not eat," if you are too large, then you "eat too much" or "like food and don't like to workout" -- my tica sister. However, I also found that there is no way to identify if someone has the "right" body type, which is typical. I know from previous history classes, and cultural expeditions, that if a person is a bit large then usually that means they have more money to buy sweets and thus they have a higher status; when I asked my sister about this she said "no." In addition to her response she made a very unattractive, confused face. I believe this is because the Costa Rican culture is being pressured with N. American culture and the younger generation is stuck in the middle of it. In the old culture it may have well been that the larger a person was then the more money for sweets they have, but with the N. American culture, the larger a person is then the less money they have, so they spend it at McDonalds. The clash in culture is leaving many people confused in my household when needing to discuss these topics, especially when I start to vocalize my comparisons to the U.S. Regardless, I believe that most of Costa Rica is not on the same opinion when referring to what food is right, how to eat it, or what a persons appearance should be, because of the changing social values.

This shows the fast pace combos that are becoming very popular with the changing social trends.

In Costa Rica most people do not celebrate Valentine's day, but since N. American culture is rubbing off on to Costa Rica, then it has become more and more evident in stores.

 Most of these advertisements are very similar to those that are seen in N. America, selling a quick-pace life style. In addition, I think that this culture change will take time, but Costa Rica does seem to slowly be on its way to becoming more "Americanized."


PHOTOS: Most of the advertisements I decided to capture and preview here display the changing tastes of Costa Rica.