Folklore and Traditions

We are the result of a beautiful mixture
of magic, faith, effort and hard work
Fotos: Luis D. Ramos /Audiovise

Traditionally, school books and politician’s speeches tell us about the fact that values, such as Freedom and Democracy have forged our national identity... But, the Costa Rican selfhood is an affectionate issue. Is a characteristic that we all is carry under the skin. These are features that one can see in all the population, as if every Costa Rican be a single person.

The thing it is, this is a facts that comes from further back. In the XIX Century, an daring Englishman, wrote in one of its voyages chronicles about what he saw, and compared this young Central American Republic with a “innocent and beautiful coffee picker: fragile, small and vulnerable, but strong and courageous as to repel to the invasion in some bloody fights “.

Costa Rica is a small country, its extension is a little more than fifty thousand squared kilometers but, in it concentrates a rich diversity of colors, flavors and histories that can be compare with the variety of plants and animals existing in every square meter of this land.

On spite of the enormous heterogeneity of opinions most Costa Ricans agree when they have to list the most transcendental aspects that form the idiosyncrasy. This is based on the following “ingredients” to form every woman and every man of this beautiful country.

HELPING EACH OTHER

Very few aspects become so important in the construction of a culture as it is solidarity. Only the people that worries about its brothers and sisters finds the ways to create a Democratic Republic like this one in which we live. A deep feeling of mutual support, has taken this country to be an example unselfish achievements in search of better conditions for all of its inhabitants. Under this last premise in the past were settled down the foundations of this great house, that’s now our home.

DEVOTION

The fusion between the indigenous believes and Christian religion created very own characteristics to a town that lives its believes respectfully and piety and in activities such as the Eastern Week manifests its fervor when adorning, prodigiously the streets, their houses and further more, their hearts. In Latin American countries, it is a very old activity to offer to the pass of the Christ, a carpet elaborated with flowers, saw dusts dyed and ochre like a representation of humility and empathy.

WORK

Hard working is another one of the ingredients in the conformation of the “Costa Rican Being”. At the beginning of this small Republic, the farmers were not afraid to work. Poor men but tenacious, were seeding and cultivating the soil to improve his condition and to give a better life to his family. Upon a strong and daily work, farmers were creating bonds of attachment with the fields, the farming and their oxen... That is the reason why, between the crops the country men and women still sing, beautiful musical pieces that tell us about the love that they develop for their love ones, piece of ground, horses and oxen.

FRIENDSHIP

This may be the innermost issue, but easier to appreciate among Costa Ricans. Friendship, for a Costa Rican, is a gift that we shared with honesty and sincerity. For us, to be called “amigo” is not a name, is an honor. And for us, this “amigo” is the person who is always here, beside you. This “amigo” is an open hand at all he time, ready to help whenever is needed. And, a friendship is valued throughout time and unconcerned the distance... but it is better, as long as friendship and care are closer.

CHILDHOOD

The lasts components that finish molding the character of the Costa Ricans are the love by their families and the acquaintance that the future of the country and the object of their efforts are centre in a single being: The children. Our nation has oriented many efforts and resources to offer a better quality of life. At the same time, shows an enormous respect to the children: because they are already, the present and the future of our mother country. One that believes in inspires tolerance, respect and solidarity to its descendants so this land continues being the “small piece of heaven” in which all live.

“Being a Costa Rican” is much more than a nationality in a passport. It is an up bringing that is affected per year after year of folklore and traditions. It is a condition that is fed upon “thin and soft tortillas” form the Central Plateau. It is a characteristic that can be perceive from the old and hazy city of Cartago to the hot and low pampas of Guanacaste. It is “something” that can be felt when a little girl in Puerto Viejo de Limón smiles to us; and in the every day patience of a fisherman outside the coasts of Puntarenas. “Being Costa Rican” is like a stain of achiote (annatto) on a white apron... indelible, that no matter how hard you scrub, is a way of live, to think and even a way to move that marks the woman and the man born or adopted by this blessed land.