Culture I - Identity, Gender, Architecture, Ethnicity

 Costa Rican’s identity

The Ticos are gregarious in nature. They are also extremely friendly and full of life. Quick to jump at any and every opportunity to celebrate is what got them the title of being the “PURA VIDA”, which translate to the “people full of happy life”. They are also very family orientated which accounts for their close kin-like relationship with almost everyone.

 

Gender Roles in Costa Rica

Females used to be subjected to male dominance by doing menial jobs such as housework and taking care of the families. There was distinct gender segregation between them and it was not changed until about 20 years ago (taken from Gender and Education of Costa Rica by Laura Guzman and Anne Letendre Morales). The government made policies and changed legislative laws to such that it caters to women and their education more. The government tried to promote equal living status, work opportunities and eliminate sexism in the country as well as the education system.

Things now are better for the females in Costa Rica, though there are still a few signs of existing sexism. Now it is safe to say that the genders are pretty equal in their country.

President Elect, Laura Chinchilla.

Costa Rica’s Architecture

Much of their older architecture like the ones found in the charming town of Barva, located in the central area of Costa Rica, are of Spanish influence due to the colonisation. The Spanish colonial architecture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries consist of solid lines and bold structures with the extravagant adornment of the Churrigueresque.

Barva's Architecture

Church in Barva

Costa Rica’s Architecture has its own style, unique to this part of the world. Like all countries, they play with space and volume to design and create built elements where individuals can interact, live, work or admire. However their design tends to be more practical as they  design and create the plans based on the needs, area and type of terrain where the structure is to be built.

author's notes:
Costa Rica's architecture is much much complicated than usual architectural design as they are subjected to harsh weather conditions as well volcanic activities. All these mentioned makes it hard for them to preserve any historical buildings and sites as the weather conditions are not under their control. However, the Costa Rican Government bodies have set aside some legislative laws that gives incentives to people, private organizations that help preserve their architecture. This, in my opinion, is very helpful in helping them preserve their cultural and heritage aspect of their country.

Ethnicity

The Ticos are one of the most homogeneous groups in terms of ethnicity as compared to the rest of the Central America countries as many of them are of Spanish descent. The “whites”, as they call it and the Mestizos (people with a mix of Native American and European ancestry) account for 94% of the total population. The rest of the populations are made up of the Chinese, American Indians and the “Blacks”. The “Blacks” are mainly made up of people with a Jamaican descent.

Mestizo males

Minorities

In the northern part of Costa Rica, like Guanacaste and Northern Puntarenas, most of the population are of Indian and the colonial-era descent. They are Hispanic in culture and language and they do speak differently from the central Ticos’ Spanish.

In the eastern part of Costa Rica, Limon Province is where the “Blacks” are situated. During the late 1800's ancestors of Costa Rica's black population came to the country from Jamaica to build railroads and to work on the banana plantations. The Indians of Costa Rica, they are a group of people who are part of the English speaking Protestant group and they were “cut-out” by the rest of the Costa Ricans due to law and work discrimination until 1948. Thus, this part of Costa Rica remains culturally distinct up until the mid-twentieth century.

author's notes:
With this going on, it is evident that there are different culture living within the country and how isolation from the 'main' part of the country retains and preserves culture. This cuts out all the other influences from the surroundings (i.e. from their own countries, neighbouring countries and the world) and helps them retain what is authentic and real. Though many might argue how it seems like a cultural and social segregation from the society, it is evident that with that segregation comes a different form of positive outcome which is retaining local culture. Even if the indigenous groups comes in small numbers due to a myriad of reason, it is still important to see that the preservation of culture comes in many forms, be in good or bad(in this case, segregation), and culture has to be retain in order to keep the authentic roots in the country.

Introduction

Overview of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is located in Central America (which consist of countries like: Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador. On its west and south is the Pacific Ocean and to its east is Caribbean Sea.

Map of Costa Rica

 Costa Rica has a rich array of culture, mainly influenced by the Native American, Spanish and also Africans. It is also one of the countries that supports the “Green movement”, from one of the countries with the highest deforestation rate to what it is now.

Here is a rough breakdown on Costa Rica:

Costa Rica's National Flag

Costa Rica
Capital	San Jose
Language	Spanish
Currency	Costa Rica Colon
Population	Roughly 4 million people

Costa Rica’s Culture, traditions and people overview

Costa Rica’s culture is much influenced by Spain due to the Spanish colonization of the American countries during the period of 1492 to 1898, a total of 406 years.  This is mainly the reason why an estimate of 90%, as taken from NationMaster.com, of the Ticos/Ticas (a term used to call Costa Rica’s native male/female) are Roman Catholics and the rest are of mixed religion. Though the Spanish influence is evident, there are also other influences that helped mould Costa Rica’s culture today. Examples like the strong indigenous cultures from North America, the Aztecs and South America’s Incas.

Costa Rica, as mentioned above, is considered one of the most hospitable and friendly countries in Latin America. This helped a lot in it being a multi-cultural society as many foreigners, now turned residents, are attracted to living in this country.

The traditions of Ticos are abundant and rather traditional as they are fairly family orientated people. Their traditions can be categorised in a few groups namely: Family, Work, Religion and Celebrations.

That is all for the introduction of Costa Rica.