Blog #7

Coffee has a lot of cultural significance in Costa RIca. My Tica Mom says that coffee is important for a couple reasons: first of all, it is abundant and secondly, it is a cultural staple which is passed down through families. It is expected that people drink coffee, therefore they do. FOr my Tica Mom and Dad coffee represents energy and mornings. Just like my real Mom in the US, they drink it in the morning to help themselves wake up and start off the day. In my Tica house it is also a social drink. The couple times we have had company they have been offered food and coffee, which they graciously accepted. Coffee represents social interactions, specifically intimate ones that are held in the home. Politically, Costa Rican coffee serves economic and international relational purposes. Economically, the coffee industry is very abundant in Costa Rica and provides many Ticans with their livelihood. It also gives Costa Rica a strong social status throughout the world. It aids trade and international relations by being known as a country that produces quality coffee beans.

In public places, the atmosphere of coffee is less intimate than it is in the home. For example, in Kaldi the focus is more on the quality of the coffee than it is on the social interactions (as shown in this picture). Although the tables are set up for intimate conversations, the coffees are expensive and very much considered a treat. There is no simple "cafe frio"at Kaldi; there is instead many ice cream like drinks which are delicious and more dessert-like than your usual morning iced coffee. This place is much more of a luxury and depicts a type of social standing. From my other observations, I would say the focus of each public space is different than the others but, overall, they all differ from the intimate nature of home-brewed and served coffee.

Looking at coffee from this perspective aids my overall understanding of the role of coffee in Costa Rica. Although it is a national staple, before I overlooked the fact that it is also a social symbol. There are people who can afford to go outside their home and drink coffee at places like Kaldi and there are those who cannot. Although coffee is a cultural unifier, where it is consumed is a cultural divider. Politically, Tican coffee is desired and this aids the economy but at the same time by providing coffee to other countries, Tican pride is injured because the quality of the coffee is mixed with other beans and is compromised. Initially, I believed that coffee was this big source of Tican pride. Although this is correct, I overlooked the fact that the presence of coffee is much more complicated than I initially believed. By realizing this, I am beginning to understand that there are many more layers than I initially believed to cultural products and situations. Coffee is a big part of Tican culture, but it is not a completely positive influence, it also has some negative effects socially and politically.