Cultural Tidbits

Daniel, Maria Paula (my host sister), and Maryfer (Brad's host sister) in the minivan-bus

Last weekend Kevin, Brad and I went to Puntarenas with the youth of our church here. It was an outreach event and we played a bunch of rough house games in the sand and sang songs. The gospel was shared around a very unnecessary campfire. The sand stuck to all the sunscreen we had just put on. It was pretty fun. We took a 12 passenger minivan there and back. On the way back we stopped at a “convenience store”: an outdoor store of fruit, refrescos (beverages), and snacks. Everyone piled out to buy drinks and snacks. When we got back in the van everyone was passing snacks back and forth and sharing drinks so that I couldn’t even tell who had originally bought what. I leaned over to Kevin, who had bought a Fresca, and said “They are sharing everything. Everyone who wants some, gets some, and they pass stuff around so that everyone can have some.” So, Kevin said, “Anyone want any Fresca?” (in Spanish, of course). Immediately, there was a “yes” from the back and a second later “There is Fresca?” and Kevin’s drink was being passed around as well. In the U.S. I would expect snacks to be shared with the person next to you in the van, while drinks would only be shared with really good friends. I'd been told that the culture here was more communal, but it was fascinating to see it express itself.