Week 2 Post

When talking about Costa Rican culture with my Tica mom, at first she had a hard time pointing out native foods and different customs because they are something that she eats or does everyday. She has never known any differently. Of course, things have changed in the last couple of years as her children have grown up, but for the most part she told me the foods and customs they have remain the same year after year. She mostly told me more foods that are typical in Costa Rica, because she was unsure about what foods were “native.” Gallo pinto, picadillos de papas, platanos fritos, arrepas, los tamales de pollo o carne, las sopas, y arroz con pollo were the few that she mentioned. My Tica mom was having a hard time understanding the word “native,” because she said that almost everything they eat here, you could find in Nicaragua or Panama. Even though this might be true, not everything is made the same, she told me. After talking to my tica mom about this, I started wondering how long these dishes and foods have been around. Maybe they are considered “native” dishes. Rice and beans are so strongly rooted in their culture that I really don’t see how that combination didn’t start here. And the same goes for many of the other foods. Are their “native” dishes their “staple” dishes? There are a lot of questions about where tamales or gallo pinto originated. These are common dishes in this culture and many other cultures in Central America, but what is their one spot of origin? Is there one?

 Now, this makes me wonder about our “staple” foods in the United States. Hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, and giant pretzels, to name a few, are foods that you see everywhere in the United States, but did they all originate there? This makes me feel very uneasy about my culture, because I feel like I should know more about the food I eat. Costa Rica is very aware of their common foods and most Costa Ricans know some reasons why they are common: perhaps because they are cheap and local. Being here in Costa Rica has opened my eyes more to the things we do in America and why we do them. But what about “American” food? This is something I definitely want to look into more and research on the history of the hot dog or the hamburger. The first thing you see at any amusement park or fair is a lot of times a concession stand offering hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, popcorn, nachos, etc. How did those foods get so popular? It looks like I have a lot of things to learn about my own culture as well as the tican culture.

When asking my tica mom about some customs that are related to food in Costa Rica, she discussed how much it varies between families. Now that her children are grown up, they are all on different schedules so everyone eats at different times. My nephews eat dinner early, because they wake up so early for school. My tica dad also eats dinner early because he wakes up so early for work. Jose eats dinner after work, and Fernando eats dinner late after his yoga classes. With all of these different schedules, my tica mom says they only eat together for special occasions like holidays and birthdays. I did notice that last week, on my birthday everyone was eating together, which was the first time that had happened. When the children were younger, it was much easier for them to eat together, but now my tica mom states, “Sometimes it is not possible.” This is the same for my family in the United States. When my brother and I were younger, we ate every dinner as a family. However, as we both got older my brother and I both got involved in extracurricular activities after school. So, we lost that family dinner during the week. My tica mom kept repeating that it is not easy to work around everyone’s schedule but it is something they must do and value the times that they do eat as a family.

My tica mom also discussed in depth about everyone serving themselves. She explained to me that by letting everyone serve themselves, except for my two younger nephews, less food goes to waste. All of the food that is left untouched can be put back in the pots and is still good to eat. Rice is one of the biggest foods that she saves because they have it for almost every meal. She tells her family to serve themselves a little at first because they can take as many servings as they want without wasting the food. I thought this was very interesting that my family was so careful about not wasting any food. This is definitely not what we do in the United States. We want big portions, and if we don’t finish, we throw it out without hesitation. While my family in the US does serve themselves, most of the time whatever is left over still gets thrown out. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of our foods are processed and can’t last that long going uneaten. However, the common foods here, for example, rice, beans and different soups, can last days and still be good to eat. Thinking about this makes me concerned for all of the food that is being wasted in the United States. My tica family does a great job about not wasting anything, and I hope that is something I can take back with me to the States.

Here is a dish from a Soda in San Pedro for lunch. I was very surprised by the size of this dish. However, this was a combo and combos often include a little bit of everything. After talking with my tica mom, She told me that lunch isn't normally as big for her family. No one is together for lunch and she packs a lunch for my brother Jose and my dad since they are working. She said that lunch for her family was more of a on-the-go type meal since everyone was in the middle of something. I think this could be the same for the United States. However, if you eat out for lunch the portions are very big. Most people in the US have work during the day so lunch needs to be fast so that they can get back to work. Dinner is considered the bigger meal in the United States. 

This my dinner one night consisting of soup and rice (which was delicious by the way). Here you can see that even though it was just my mom and I eating, she still wanted me to serve myself. She said dinner was normally the biggest meal of the day for her family. However, she said that it varies among families depending on their health. Breakfast is normally pretty big but fast. The United States tries to emphasize the importance of breakfast but there are many days that I go without eating it. Everyone is always in a rush and thinks that skipping breakfast is fine as long as they are not hungry. Well, here in Costa Rica, I have noticed how much I need that breakfast to get to lunch! I am no longer thinking on empty stomach, and then I also don't eat as much for lunch.