7. Culture

Fiesta! is a watercolor painting done by the author. It was painted from a nearly identical photo. The Fiesta in each town on Guanacaste usually involves a “Tope” – pronounced – Toe – Pay. It is a colorful horse parade and that’s what is depicted in this scene.

Most of the country has Spanish as a primary language and a “Latin” culture in terms of music, traditional dress, dance, etc. A fair number of people speak at least some English as well as their native Spanish. The Caribbean coast of the country has a different background in that its citizens are historically of African descent, having been brought in as slaves centuries ago to work the plantations. They speak a dialect of English that sounds to most of us like what we think of as a Jamaican accent. Their music, dress, and dance more closely align with Caribbean nations than with Latin nations. The majority of the country’s population is of mixed European and Native American descent. The Province of Guanacaste, which is adjacent to Nicaragua, was once more closely aligned with Nicaragua and has a history and culture of it’s own with a special holiday to celebrate the day that the citizens chose to be a part of Costa Rica versus Nicaragua.. While the subtleties of the Guanacastican ways would not be apparent to us as outsiders, it is apparent to Costa Ricans, who by the way call themselves “Ticos” (or in the specific case of a girl or woman, “Tica”). That is not a derogatory term in any sense. Likewise they will refer to all North Americans, e.g. U.S. and Canadian citizens as “gringos” or gringa for a female. That is not a derogatory term either. They don’t like when people of the U.S. call themselves Americans at the exclusion of citizens of other countries on the American continents. Guanacaste, once the poorest province is rapidly becoming the wealthiest province due to the rush of tourism dollars and related real estate development. It previously depended on agriculture and ranching for it’s economy and still has more of a “cowboy” feel to it as we would observe it. It is certainly not unusual still to see people working their cattle on horseback or using oxen to draw wooden carts or move timbers. Ticos are peaceful people and don’t like conflict. This can lead to some challenges in business dealings in that they are likely at times to say “yes” when they mean “no.” They will go to lengths to avoid conflict, not always a helpful attitude in a business setting, but very pleasant for a visitor. The country is 80% Catholic as is most of Latin America. Church Holy Days there, as in much of the world, now have as much secular atmosphere as religious though not as much commercial flavor as in more capitalistic countries such as the U.S. While a casual observer might (and often does) get the sense that Ticos are “poor”, particularly in Guanacaste due to traditionally small houses and a rural setting, by real measures, they are not poor at all. They have good security, good national healthcare, a guaranteed education, and benefit from life expectancies and literacy rates that match the U.S., Western Europe, and prosperous Asian nations. Ticos are friendly people who are very accustomed to U.S. visitors. In almost all situations, they will be most happy to help you, albeit sometimes expecting a tip. You won’t experience the kind of incessant efforts to hawk souvenirs or services that you may be familiar with from other international destinations. If there happens to be a Fiesta going on in one of the nearby towns, be sure to visit. There will be a small wooden bullring and it’s fun to watch. They don’t do any harm to the bulls at all. Mostly a bunch of crazy young Vaqueros (cowboys) jump into the ring and let the bull chase them around.