Unfortunately I will no be able to upload pictures because of poor connection. Lo siento mucho 😔✊

As we drove through the mountains, the first things I noticed were the fresher air quality and the increased amount of open fields. These are probably due to the higher altitude, away from the pollution of the city, and the lower population density of the countryside when compared to Heredia, respectively. I took note of the many cows and horses, and the occasional oxen on our journey to Monteverde. We also passed by a handful of street vendors, primarily selling fruits and vegetables, it seemed. One person ran each of the shops I saw. Nearing Monteverde, I caught sight of elementary school students playing fútbol outside on the school fields, all in uniform with white shirt-sleeved polos and black pants. As for la naturaleza, I noticed there were a couple of creeks with signs next to them reading “río seco” (dry river), and the trees were taller than in Heredia, with broad, shiny, verdant leaves.

For how my perception of Costa Rica has changed since arriving on Saturday, I came to realize how much tourism really made up Costa Rica’s economy. Cafe Britt, for example, is essentially marketed exclusively towards foreigners, and passing through the mountains today, I saw at least three or four stand-alone souvenir shops with English signs to entice English-speaking tourists. Also, in every store I have gone to so far on this trip, the cashiers accept USD and ApplePay, as opposed to colones, without batting an eye. This normalization of using foreign currency just further demonstrates the sheer amount of tourism that comes through Costa Rica.

Some benefits of foreigners arriving in Costa Rica include the boost to the Tico economy and promoted relations between foreigners and Ticos due to the interchange of cultures. German immigrant Oscar Mondino (spelling?) and his American wife founded the first cheese factory in Costa Rica in the 1950s. This not only made fine aged cheese more mainstream (homemade cheese was more common prior to this), but also provided employment to Ticos who worked alongside the foreign family workers at the factory. The arrival of the Quakers in Costa Rica also contributed to improved roads, and electricity that originated from a power plant on a family farm in Monteverde and reached all the way to Santa Elena. By establishing the golden toad conservation as well, Quakers were able to bring in more foreign attention through tourism.

The cultural benefits that the foreigners’ arrival brought to Costa Rica were brought about by exposing Ticos and foreigners/gringos to each others cultures. This was done by encouraging Ticos and the Quakers to work together on the family farms, as previously mentioned, while only speaking Spanish to each other. Another example is providing education in local schools to Ticos and Quaker children in the same classrooms, and celebrating traditions from each party’s cultures together like Christmas or Monteverde Day. Activities like square dancing, volleyball, and softball exposed Ticos to more sports outside of fútbol too.