New Perspectives

Culture shock can take on many different forms. We can experience culture shock during a meal, at a bar, in the classroom, at work and so much more. Experiencing different cultures and coping with that initial shock is what makes traveling so interesting.

Throughout my 5 weeks in Costa Rica I suppose I have experienced many moments of culture shock where I have had to adjust my perception of cultural norms in order to align with the cultural norms of Costa Rica. The most distinct moment of culture shock that I experienced was when I was with my home stay.

Our home stays spanned over a course of four days in a small town call Siquirres. Similar to many Latin American families our host family was very close and very tight knit. The family had two sons, Philippe (23 years old) and Fabio (27 years old). Although both these men were graduated from school they both still lived with their parents. In fact, Fabio was engaged to be married with a baby on the way. Yet, Fabio had no intention of moving out of the house. Instead, him and his father were building a small home in the backyard for Fabio and his soon to be wife to raise their family in.

In the U.S. many of us are expected to move out and go to college as soon as we graduate high school at 18 years old. Upon graduating college it is looked down upon in our culture to move back home with the family. Therefore, we are strongly encouraged to establish a life of our own and pursue our career and livelihood separate from our parents.

In Costa Rica this cultural norm that we find in the U.S. is completely opposite. Sons and daughters are encouraged to live with their families until they are married. Often times once they choose to get married the sons and daughters move into a home extremely close to their parent’s home. In Costa Rica family means everything. Living close to your family and creating close family bonds is a huge part of Costa Rican culture. Women are encouraged to get married and have kids early in order to get a head start on building their own families and continuing family traditions.

I must say that I do appreciate the fact that Costa Rica puts so much weight on family. I believe that living close to your family and having those close ties make a positive impact on an individual. However, it was challenging for me to become accustom to the idea of marrying young and having children early. In the U.S. feminist groups across the nation encourage women to wait on creating their own family in order to optimize their upward mobility in their career development. Although it was difficult for me to appreciate the concept of creating a family so young I found that because families are so close and provide so much support for one another that having a family at a young age seemed to work out just fine for many of the Costa Rican families I met.

The experience at the home stay supplied many opportunities for me to learn and grow. It forced me to understand other cultures and gain new perspectives of my own culture. Having the opportunity to learn from my home stay family has been a phenomenal experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.