thoughts from a ´sociologist´...
When I was in college I didn’t know what I wanted to “be when I grew up,” and to be honest, I still don’t know, but somewhere mid-sophomore year it became necessary that I at least needed to choose a major. So what did I do? I picked up the good old course catalog and started reading through some class descriptions. I figured that if I was going to be dedicating myself to one area for a couple of years, it should at least be interesting. After determining that its classes sounded the most intriguing, I declared myself a Sociology major. Since that point I have said that, unlike a nurse or teacher, I don’t know if I will ever specifically use my studies to do any sort of “sociological work”, but since it is a pretty general, multi-use subject I should be alright. Anyway, the point of this little bit of history is that now, for what may be the first time, I am realizing that I do have a bit of a sociological mind and I am interested in such areas of thought. I have always loved to travel; to see different parts of my own country as well as the world. But a huge reason why I am here, living in Costa Rica, is because I had a desire to be among a Spanish-speaking population, not just as a temporary tourist, but as a “resident” of sorts. I wanted to be able to see what day-to-day life is like outside of the American mold. As I have been here and experienced the Costa Rican way of life, I have come to realize that the things I notice about the country, the culture, the people, the society…these are sociological things. In an effort to conclude this rambling and get to the evidence let me just say that this is kind of exciting for me. I feel, in some small part, that I am using my area of study not just as a means of describing how I got my degree, but actually applying the principles and ideas I learned.
So now I just want to make a few comments about two major institutions in society and how I have seen them in a new and different light since being here. In Costa Rica it has been blatantly obvious to me that the family is the most important institution for social, financial, and material support. The majority of families are large – including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. – and they live in close proximity to each other, if not in the same home. It is not uncommon to find siblings and their families living in neighboring houses on the same property as their parents, for example. In sharp contrast to the US, children don’t usually move out until they get married – from sharing a roof with mom and dad to sharing with their new spouse. Many people make comments to me about how much I must miss my parents, and them me, and they find it quite surprising to realize that I have been living away from my parents home since I graduated college, and now even live states away from them. And it’s not because we don’t love each other or miss each other, but me being here in Costa Rica just means a longer plane ride and more expensive phone calls. The families here tend to live near each other, it makes for easy and frequent gatherings. Birthdays, holidays, and even just Sunday dinner or afternoon coffee are regular occasions to bring the troops together. It is cool to see how tight-knit the families are, and how much they support and take care of each other. Coming from a very small family myself, I love that they all have so many cousins and aunts and uncles nearby that they can hang out with, or just “run into” when out and about. In most of my experience in the US, I would definitely say that we don’t have nearly the same tradition and practice when it comes to our families and where we live in relation to each other and how often we see each other. However, I know that it is part of our society and culture to make up for the lack of proximity of blood relatives with close friends. So although we may not have all our family members at our birthday dinner or Thanksgiving dinner, the friends and family friends who are there can easily be attributed the same level of closeness. I don’t think that it can be said that one way is right or wrong or better or worse, they are just different.
Another major difference that I have noticed since being here in Costa Rica is the role of the church in society. Now there may definitely be parts of the US where the attitude toward church is more similar to what I have experienced here, but in my own life I haven’t witnessed first-hand anything quite like this. In the San José area there is a strong dominance of Catholicism. The center of every community and neighborhood is its Catholic church. Since they don’t have many street names or house numbers in this country, many directions are given by stating the destination’s location in relation to the church. The large part of the population attends mass at least one time a week, and most of the kids have been through either the Catholic baptism, communion, and/or confirmation classes and ceremonies. Plus, there seems to be an overall recognition of the presence and will of God. Many people end their thoughts about plans or future events with “Si Dios quiere,” which means “if God wants.” In the same way, in responding to a question about how they are doing or how something went, the answer is often completed with “Gracias a Dios” or “thanks to God.” Here in Limón, with the large Caribbean and Negro population, I have only seen the one central Catholic church, while there are at least 4 Baptist Churches, plus Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Assembly of God, Mormon, among others. Regardless of which church you attend, it is obvious to me that church is a very important part of life. Most of my experience has been with the Baptist churches and I have seen that strong tradition of the family also continues on into the church. A lot of the people have been born, raised, and are still attending the same church. And doing so along side their parents, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces & nephews, etc. They not only attend on Sundays, but there are also many activities thoughout the week – prayer meetings, Bible studies, etc. Even the youth are very committed – dedicating their Saturday nights to the youth group meetings. In my experience with youth group activities at churches in the US, there are on weeknights and often conflict with other school or sports activities, and asking kids to attend a church activity on a Saturday night is fairly uncommon. Here, however, it seems like it is a priority. Now, I must add that it could also be in large part due to the fact that there are not a lot of other options – no mall, no movie theatres, etc. But I think that the priority of church it is just a mindset that they are raised with
The last of my thoughts in this matter relates to education. First of all, every school that I have seen or heard of here requires their students to wear a uniform. Pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, high school, they all have uniforms – private and public alike. Personally, I am a fan of the school uniform thing for several reasons: parents save a ton of money on school clothes, it puts all the kids on an equal playing field, it spares the “popularity by dress” issue, helps encourage a professional attitude and environment, and serves as an easy way to identify unwanted “visitors”. Second, the schedule of attendance varies on a daily basis. Some days they may attend from 7am until 12pm, some days from 1pm until 5pm, sometimes from 10am until 2pm or 7am until 4pm, and many have short or half days every Friday. I still haven’t quite figured it out how the whole scheduling thing works, but I do know that it seems like kids are coming and going at all hours of the day from the high school by my house. Thirdly, most students are taught English from a very young age. There are several schools that offer bilingual education – teaching half of the day in Spanish and half in English, but many have at least have one class of English a day, starting in elementary school. I think this is such a better way of teaching foreign languages than our American habit of starting when kids are in high school. When they are young they are still excited to learn and pick up on things so quickly that it seems to be such an advantage. Plus, when kids are in high school they can start learning a 3rd language. Here the high schools are 5 years and consist of 7th – 11th grade. They graduate after 11th grade and have to pass a test before they can receive their diploma. For many kids the next step is the university, but it is not the same kind of big “leap” in life that it is for a lot of students in the U.S. As I said before, most kids live at home until they get married, so going to university means that they choose one of the local options to attend, while still living at home. Very few kids live in on-campus apartments or other housing, usually only those who are from more remote areas where they don’t have a local university. So the whole social and life transition that many American students face as they leave their homes and comfortable high school lives to make their way on their own in college, is really not a step in the process here.
In all of my time to observe the differences among our two societies, it has given me a chance to see the benefits and downsides of each practice. As I look back on my own experience with all of the above-mentioned topics, I am happy with everything that I have been able to do and how my life has been shaped, and although it may be very different than the experience of a peer here in Costa Rica, I am sure that they look at their own life with the same appreciation and satisfaction. I am just enjoying the privilege I have to see that there is a different way, that not everyone has the same pattern and steps of life that we do. I think it helps me to aware and appreciative of the life and opportunities that I have had.
So now I just want to make a few comments about two major institutions in society and how I have seen them in a new and different light since being here. In Costa Rica it has been blatantly obvious to me that the family is the most important institution for social, financial, and material support. The majority of families are large – including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. – and they live in close proximity to each other, if not in the same home. It is not uncommon to find siblings and their families living in neighboring houses on the same property as their parents, for example. In sharp contrast to the US, children don’t usually move out until they get married – from sharing a roof with mom and dad to sharing with their new spouse. Many people make comments to me about how much I must miss my parents, and them me, and they find it quite surprising to realize that I have been living away from my parents home since I graduated college, and now even live states away from them. And it’s not because we don’t love each other or miss each other, but me being here in Costa Rica just means a longer plane ride and more expensive phone calls. The families here tend to live near each other, it makes for easy and frequent gatherings. Birthdays, holidays, and even just Sunday dinner or afternoon coffee are regular occasions to bring the troops together. It is cool to see how tight-knit the families are, and how much they support and take care of each other. Coming from a very small family myself, I love that they all have so many cousins and aunts and uncles nearby that they can hang out with, or just “run into” when out and about. In most of my experience in the US, I would definitely say that we don’t have nearly the same tradition and practice when it comes to our families and where we live in relation to each other and how often we see each other. However, I know that it is part of our society and culture to make up for the lack of proximity of blood relatives with close friends. So although we may not have all our family members at our birthday dinner or Thanksgiving dinner, the friends and family friends who are there can easily be attributed the same level of closeness. I don’t think that it can be said that one way is right or wrong or better or worse, they are just different.
Another major difference that I have noticed since being here in Costa Rica is the role of the church in society. Now there may definitely be parts of the US where the attitude toward church is more similar to what I have experienced here, but in my own life I haven’t witnessed first-hand anything quite like this. In the San José area there is a strong dominance of Catholicism. The center of every community and neighborhood is its Catholic church. Since they don’t have many street names or house numbers in this country, many directions are given by stating the destination’s location in relation to the church. The large part of the population attends mass at least one time a week, and most of the kids have been through either the Catholic baptism, communion, and/or confirmation classes and ceremonies. Plus, there seems to be an overall recognition of the presence and will of God. Many people end their thoughts about plans or future events with “Si Dios quiere,” which means “if God wants.” In the same way, in responding to a question about how they are doing or how something went, the answer is often completed with “Gracias a Dios” or “thanks to God.” Here in Limón, with the large Caribbean and Negro population, I have only seen the one central Catholic church, while there are at least 4 Baptist Churches, plus Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Assembly of God, Mormon, among others. Regardless of which church you attend, it is obvious to me that church is a very important part of life. Most of my experience has been with the Baptist churches and I have seen that strong tradition of the family also continues on into the church. A lot of the people have been born, raised, and are still attending the same church. And doing so along side their parents, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces & nephews, etc. They not only attend on Sundays, but there are also many activities thoughout the week – prayer meetings, Bible studies, etc. Even the youth are very committed – dedicating their Saturday nights to the youth group meetings. In my experience with youth group activities at churches in the US, there are on weeknights and often conflict with other school or sports activities, and asking kids to attend a church activity on a Saturday night is fairly uncommon. Here, however, it seems like it is a priority. Now, I must add that it could also be in large part due to the fact that there are not a lot of other options – no mall, no movie theatres, etc. But I think that the priority of church it is just a mindset that they are raised with
The last of my thoughts in this matter relates to education. First of all, every school that I have seen or heard of here requires their students to wear a uniform. Pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, high school, they all have uniforms – private and public alike. Personally, I am a fan of the school uniform thing for several reasons: parents save a ton of money on school clothes, it puts all the kids on an equal playing field, it spares the “popularity by dress” issue, helps encourage a professional attitude and environment, and serves as an easy way to identify unwanted “visitors”. Second, the schedule of attendance varies on a daily basis. Some days they may attend from 7am until 12pm, some days from 1pm until 5pm, sometimes from 10am until 2pm or 7am until 4pm, and many have short or half days every Friday. I still haven’t quite figured it out how the whole scheduling thing works, but I do know that it seems like kids are coming and going at all hours of the day from the high school by my house. Thirdly, most students are taught English from a very young age. There are several schools that offer bilingual education – teaching half of the day in Spanish and half in English, but many have at least have one class of English a day, starting in elementary school. I think this is such a better way of teaching foreign languages than our American habit of starting when kids are in high school. When they are young they are still excited to learn and pick up on things so quickly that it seems to be such an advantage. Plus, when kids are in high school they can start learning a 3rd language. Here the high schools are 5 years and consist of 7th – 11th grade. They graduate after 11th grade and have to pass a test before they can receive their diploma. For many kids the next step is the university, but it is not the same kind of big “leap” in life that it is for a lot of students in the U.S. As I said before, most kids live at home until they get married, so going to university means that they choose one of the local options to attend, while still living at home. Very few kids live in on-campus apartments or other housing, usually only those who are from more remote areas where they don’t have a local university. So the whole social and life transition that many American students face as they leave their homes and comfortable high school lives to make their way on their own in college, is really not a step in the process here.
In all of my time to observe the differences among our two societies, it has given me a chance to see the benefits and downsides of each practice. As I look back on my own experience with all of the above-mentioned topics, I am happy with everything that I have been able to do and how my life has been shaped, and although it may be very different than the experience of a peer here in Costa Rica, I am sure that they look at their own life with the same appreciation and satisfaction. I am just enjoying the privilege I have to see that there is a different way, that not everyone has the same pattern and steps of life that we do. I think it helps me to aware and appreciative of the life and opportunities that I have had.
posted by Dynasty goes to CR at
1:20 PM
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