While Costa Ricans have their customs and certain foods that are typical in their daily meals, they seem open to other foods and practices. I talked to my tico brother, Jose, for quite a while about the eating practices of his family and comparing them to those of my family. He said his family was very open to different habits like eating certain foods separately instead of combining things on your plate like salad, rice, and beans. He said that what I might do is different but not weird. He mentioned that each family has different practices and that there really wasn’t anything taboo foods, except for maybe bugs. Similar to the United States, breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day, but here in Costa Rica, my brother says it’s the lightest meal of the day for his family. He says that it’s very uncommon to have meat for breakfast, which is different for me, since bacon and sausage are so common in the States.

 On a side note, I found it interesting when my brother told me that he has learned that you shouldn’t eat the fat of any meat or drink cold drinks during dinner, but we still do. I would say the same applies for us in the States for both. But referring to drinks during meals, I have heard that it is better to drink warm drinks or not drink until you are finished because it is better for digestion. However, it’s intriguing that he mentioned this. How is it that we have both hold onto such a unique statement while in two different countries but don’t abide by it? Maybe it’s an old saying or maybe it’s an action of the past that our generations didn’t hold onto. Either way, it’s obviously something that isn’t a practice that is spoken of in just one country. This makes me wonder if it was a custom in the past where hot drinks were served with meals. This was a great experience for me to hear something so strange and familiar but from my tico brother.

My tico brother had a harder time with the second question about if food defines a person. His first response was that food doesn’t talk for someone. Also, didn’t seem to like when I asked about being overweight or skinny. However, the more we talked the more we both came to the conclusion that your surrounding effect what you eat, so in fact, food can define a person. My other tico brother, Fernando, in the past year has decided to dedicate his life to yoga and becoming a yoga instructor. In turn, this has effected what he now eats. His diet consists of all vegetables, fruits, rice, beans and eggs (for the most part). For lunch my tico dad eats whatever my tica mom packs him, which is normally what we had for dinner the night before. And my tica sister, Johana, doesn’t eat meat, so her two sons eat little meat. After thinking about this, it is evident to me that food does say something about a person, but also the food you eat is definitely influenced and defined by your lifestyle and what you are surrounded by. This can be seen somewhat in the States. We have this fast-paced mindset especially in college, so most of the stuff we eat is on-the-go, which is okay because we have many options and fast food restaurants that will allow us to do that. To me, it seems that Costa Ricans really value eating food at home or from home. I personally think its better economically and it even helps create that warm, connected feeling that my family has and I think we lack in the United States. It might just be because I am in college, but I think we are losing the value of eating family dinners. Just the last week Fernando told me that the dinner table is what brings his family together, and I agree with him. I think that eating meals with the whole family is an important practice that my real family should continue to do whenever possible, because they are some of the rare times that my entire family is together to share our lives with each other. 

I saw this first advertisement on the way back from Monteverde about an hour outside of San Jose. To me, this ad suggests that eating eggs for breakfast is living the “pura vida” lifestyle that most Ticans treasure. The egg-like character is wearing a sombrero to perhaps imitate the looks of a Costa Rican. In my family, I have an egg every morning for breakfast, whether it is scrambled, over easy, or in an omelet. The ad is encouraging not only for people to buy their eggs, but also eat them for breakfast because that is the Costa Rican way to eat them. I think this is similar to a lot of ads in the U.S. For example, on cereal boxes there are always pictures on the front suggesting how you can eat the cereal, usually in a bowl with milk and maybe a piece of fruit.

This second advertisement was also on the highway back to San Jose. The ad is introducing the new bottle that the company has created, showing its customers that they are using less plastic to produce the bottle, which helps the environment. The ad’s main purpose is to show how the company is helping the environment, which will cause more people to want to buy their product. Since everyone needs water, the company doesn’t have to worry about interest in the product, just its competition. The ad shows progress and a step in the right direction, like many ads in the United States. The environment is a hot topic that many people are concerned about. By taking similar steps as this company and using advertisements similar to this one, most people see the cool affect of twisting the bottle or see the big percent and believe that they can make a difference by buying the product, which is true. It is also common in advertisements from the US to use well-known celebrities to sell the product.