When my family was asked what foods were native to Costa Rica, they were unsure. They speak good English so it wasn’t a difficulty in understanding the question, but rather a difficulty in knowing what food is Tican and what is Latin food in general. No worries though, we just went for it. So according to my Tican family, Gallo pinto, olla de carne, yucca, arroz con pollo are native to this Rich Coast. Through my misunderstanding of what yucca is, I discovered that yucca is the same thing as manioc, which was great because it finally solved for me what that mysterious vegetable was that was dominating our readings. It was quite satisfying for some reason. I found this all interesting, because to be perfectly honest, none of these things were surprising, and to be honest I was expecting a surprise (an apparent contradiction that I hope is understood). I see rice, beans and some form of meat in every meal that eat. The yucca was what was interesting to me, but we did not talk about its uses other than what I already knew from our readings: it is similar to potato and is a sustainable plant.

The next question was a much more interesting conversation. There are many things that are traditionally Tican meal events, often surrounding family. My mom and dad told me that pork is a traditional entrée here for Christmas and New Years eve. I was confused initially as to what that was, but as I type, I am pretty sure that he meant ham; he said pork leg. Something else that he told me about was that for one or two days, families gather and make tamales. This is an important time for the whole family to be together. What I found strange was that my family does not do this though, so I do not know how widespread it is. They said that lunch is the most important meal traditionally, however with everyone at school or work, it is not that way any more. Even gathering as a family every night is difficult and is falling apart as a staple of the community. My favorite part of this conversation however was when I talked to my mom and dad about what they did as a family for tradition. This was a little off book I know, but it seemed like an interesting question, and the answers reconciled my curiosity. Every Saturday and Sunday, they eat every meal together. For breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday they take a baguette and put cream cheese on it. My dad told me, this is not a Tican tradition, but he wants his kids to have something to always look forward to with the family, to have something to bring them together. I thought the whole thin

Food in Costa Rica is important. Meals are a time meant for bonding, for asking how everyone is, for just watching TV and experiencing things together. Dinner is a time of jokes and conversation that goes on long after the plates have been moved. These are some of the pictures of the food that I have eaten over these past few days. They are similar, almost repetitive, but there is a beauty in this, for the action of dinner is repetitive, but such a definition of a culture based on family community.g sounded beautiful and made me excited for that free weekend sometime in the future when I could join them.