Semana 7!!!! MORE coffee!!!! :)

Blog #7

            According to my tica mom, coffee is so important to Costa Rica because it is the number one export. She said that it represents more than just a drink; it is part of the culture and essential to the economy. It was interesting that in her opinion, it is not considered something social, but cultural. She explained to me that for many years Costa Rica was really poor and didn’t export anything, she said it was really isolated. She the explained to me that students went abroad (from Costa Rica) to places like Europe and came back inspired to make Costa Rica successful. She told me that their plan was to send coffee abroad and that is how it all began. She also told me that the successes and wealth gained from coffee are the reason that Costa Rica has a National Theatre, The University, and many other historical buildings. Thanks to the exportation of coffee, the entire country became significantly wealthier. She said that even with bananas and other exports today, coffee is still essential to the economy. She did not really say anything about the politics of Costa Rica except that it was about the economy and wealth that had changed because of coffee.

            This was a fascinating response! I always consider coffee a part of the culture AND social aspects of Costa Rica since it’s so intermingled in most social gatherings and events. It’s really interesting that my tica mom said that it’s not social, just cultural. I have to wonder if there’s some overlap in the words for her, a side effect of my translations perhaps? It’s also interesting to see how my tica mom thinks that the coffee is still the most successful export, but this has changed according to what I’ve heard.

            The public places that coffee are abundant in Costa Rica. Although most Costa Ricans drink coffee socially at home, it seems that these traditions are starting to change. I haven’t been to a hotel, restaurant, Soda, or bakery that hasn’t had a coffee option. This is important for many reasons; the most important are economic, social, and status. Depending on where you are, such as a classy café or coffee shop (such as Kaldi, an Elon student favorite J) the coffee drinks that you can but are fancy, more like desserts, and cost significantly more. The atmosphere is designed for conversations and social gatherings; the focus is more on the classy environment and ability to have classy drinks, not specifically the drinks themselves. Personally, I love the drinks there because they’re SO sweet and delicious and I can afford them every once and awhile, but it’s more that that. It’s the social environment, free wifi, central location, and safe environment. Although this is popular for our group, there are certainly more affordable restaurants like Sodas that have coffee. This is different because it is just café con leche, not a fancy drink, and it’s included as the drink with the meal. Although this is more affordable, most Costa Ricans still drink coffee at home. It’s still a cultural respectful tradition to invite people over and offer them coffee.

            To me, this means that coffee is much more than a drink. It’s impossible to ignore the significance of the economic prosperity, cultural values/traditions, and the sign of status and wealth. It seems that the commonality of having coffee offered at home is still significant and valuable, but it’s a new sign of wealth to be able to afford the Starbucks priced coffee drinks in a classy coffee shop like Kaldi. As we have learned in class, coffee has moved throughout the social classes. It has been both a unifier in the coffee shops of the past and a divider of those who can afford and who cannot. It seems that it plays both roles in present day Costa Rica through the expensive shops outside of the home and the traditions that are still respected inside of the home.

This is a coffee shop in MonteVerde that reminded me a lot of Kaldi, the drink was essentially the same, along with the enviroment. It had a stigma of having to be able to afford it, upper class or a splurge for middle class. This is a version of a divided social structure. The coffee drink was DELICIOUS though! :)

This is one way that coffee can be made at home, but this was in a public restaraunt outside of Cartago. This is a way that people can socially enjoy a GOOD CUP of coffee... in this case, it is a little but more focused on the coffee... not just the social event, since it's SO good and takes SO much longer to make and just a little bit! There's that quality over quantity theme again! :O

This is a social plantation, the Britt Coffee plantation (tour) which the Barrista was showing us how to make different drinks. This is another setting that is "open to the public" technically, but to truly go, it required being able to pay a substantial amount. This is more of a tourist or coffee lover's environment. But OH BOY those coffee drinks were INCREDIBLE!!!! Here, it was TRULY about the coffee, not the social environment... but we made some GOOD friends drinking some DELICIOUS coffee!!! :) (We should probably go as a field trip, they talked about the history, it was FASCINATING and alligned really well with our coffee discussions in class! YAY! :D Sarah and I loved it!!)