Today we had class with Dr. Ramirez, who talked about the typical food, games, and traditions in Costa Rica. The topics we learned about today were not only interesting but also surprising. Specifically, the games Ticos generally play surprised me. Most of the games that were mentioned were games I had played as a child, such as rayuela, which is similar to hop scotch and brinca brinca, which is like jump roping. I did not anticipate the typical games they played to be the same as those I had played when I was younger. While there were some games that were completely new, like cromos, a game played with cards, I was surprised to find that many of them were similar to common games in America. This makes sense based on geographical location and the commonness of these games, it was something I had never thought about. Costa Rica, is in close proximity to the United States and was settled and “discovered” around the same time. The Spanish settled Costa Rica is 1562, which was a few decades before the first lasting settlement in the United States. The commonalities in the games made me realize that while I am from a different country, there are many similarities between the culture and way of life of both the US and Costa Rica.

Another Topic in class today was the Boyeo and the Oxcart. Boyeo is the practice of using oxen to pull a cart to help with transporting crops and supplies for agriculture work in the earlier agricultural days of Costa Rica. We learned that there is a special and almost family like relationship between a boyero and an ox. The boyero trains and befriends the oxen, when it is littler, raising it to work with them in the fields or with other agriculturally related work. Along with this, the oxen carts are painted in dynamic designs and colors. Today we painted some designs that could be put on the oxen carts. We used vibrant colors and some simpler designs in our paintings that were similar to what you might see on an oxcart. The trade of the boyero and him training and working with the ox, as well as the painting of the oxcarts has been passed down for many generations in Costa Rica and is very important to their culture.

Today we also took dance lessons learning the salsa and the merengue, which are two of Costa Rica’s most popular types of dance. I have never learned anything like either of the dances we learned today but it was very fun. One thing I noticed about these dances that are different from typical types of dancing in the United States, is that it is much faster and the dancing is done with a partner. While ballroom dancing is popular in the US is it not necessarily the way one would dance at a party, where the salsa and the merengue is something Ticos would do at a dance or party. The common dancing is more beat and step based in Costa Rica than in the United States and it is also much faster than typical dancing in the U.S. Their dancing is also very lively, which is understandable as, Ticos are generally very lively people, however, the dancing is very fast which is different to typical Tico life style. Ticos are generally very laid back and relaxed with their lifestyle, but their dancing is very fast and is made up of a combination of specific steps. While the steps can be done in any combination they please, they have a basic outline of step choices they stick to which, is not similar to their general way of life. Overall their dancing is very different from that in the United States, but was very exciting and interesting to learn.