When I talked to my tica mom about foods that Costa Ricans may find weird of others eating, she really did not have much to say. She that it is weird that the chinese eat dog and rat, but other than that, she did not find anything especially offensive. This seems similar in the United States. In my opinion, there is not much in the U.S. that people find offensive or weird to eat. It seems that as more cultures and immigrants infiltrate Costa Rica, the less that the people find weird, similar to the U.S.
When I asked the question about what food says about a person, I was surprised at the very “down to earth” answer, because many times my family talks about the fast food and obesity issue very freely and jokingly. Today my tica mom and brother said that if someone is obese it is because of one of two reasons. The first is that the person is fat because of genetics. The second is that the person likes to eat but not exercise. They jokingly talked about my tica dad saying that he likes to eat, but his arms only move when he is putting food in his mouth, but never for exercise. During this week I did notice some interesting things that my family has said referring to weight. First, my mom and I were watching the news when there was a story about men and beer bellies. My mom commented that men do not have an excuse to be fat, but women do because they bear children. From this, I gather that it is more acceptable for an older woman to be overweight than a man to be overweight. Also, I have noticed that calling a loved one fat or “gordito/gordita” is used as a term of endearment. This is interesting for me because no one in the United States would ever call someone a fatty with love.
When I asked about those people that are skinny, my family simply said that they must exercise a lot and have good health. When again I stressed that the person is very skinny, my brother replied that it is possible that the person has been badly affected by social standards. When this occurs the person would have many health problems.
The way that my family talked about people whom are overweight compared to those who are underweight, it seemed that those underweight were more socially acceptable because in most cases that person has good health. My brother seemed to think that most of la gente does not have the issue of being overweight. Never did he mention anorexia or bulimia. Overall, I thought it was interesting how my family is very open about weight, but in the United States, weight is almost a social taboo and there are diet pill commercials and diet programs all of the time. Here I have not seen one commercial about weight loss.
On the other hand, the advertisements I see most are for americanized fast food restaurants and telephone companies. The first advertisement that I took a picture of is a McDonalds billboard. It is funny how many Costa Ricans seem to worship some of the new American food. For example, my mom loves taco bell and McDonalds. The other day we were talking about meat, and we somehow got on the topic of hamburgers. I asked her if she ever makes hamburgers. Her response was that she doesn't make hamburgers at home because she can't make them as good as McDonalds. In this case, McDonalds is definitely selling an image and brand.
In addition, many of the American fast food restaurants do specialize their menus for the Costa Rican palette. For example when I have eaten at Subway, Gallo Pinto was an option for breakfast. This would never be an option in the United States. These advertisements say that Costa Rica wants to americanized. While this may be true for younger generations that are in escuela and colegio now, it is not necessarily true for the older generations. When I visited the colegio today, one of the professors said that many students now eat at the McDonalds that is very close to the school. When I told my tico brother this he replied that they are "gorditos" and looked down upon this younger generation. The generation gap is huge here when it comes to new eating habits of the younger generations. When talking to Linelle, she always says that her younger brother resists traditional Costa Rican food and craves anything American. This is a prime example of younger generations wanting to be more "american." The advertisements seem to reach towards the young who are open to new american things.
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