Culture du Costa Rica

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Le Costa Rica est le point de rencontre entre deux grandes cultures ancestrales en amérique. Le nord du pays était le point le plus au sud de l'influence de l'empire maya quand les conquistadors espagnols sont arrivés au XVIe siècle. À l'opposé, le centre et le sud du pays ont subi l'influence des Chibcha. Au cours des 17ème et XVIIIe siècle, la côte atlantique du Costa Rica a été colonisé par des esclaves africains. Au même moment, des milliers de familles chinoises sont arrivés au Costa Rica pour travailler sur les chemins de fer. Ces diverses influences ont développé une culture extrêment variée au sein du Costa Rica.

Sommaire 1 Langues 2 Religions 3 Éducation 4 Musique 5 Cuisine 6 Ambiance émotionnelle 7 Comportement public 8 Les étrangers vu par les Costa Ricains 9 Pura Vida!

[modifier] Langues

Les Costa Ricains parle l'espagnol américain standard, mais ils utilisent habituellement des formules très respectueuses pour s'adresser aux autres. Quand ils utilisent une forme familière, ils utilises des mots comme "voseo|vo", "tú".Ils parlent aussi d'autres langues commes le "Bribi", mais se ne sont pas les seules langues qu'ils parlent, les Costa Ricains parlents aussi d'autre langues.

[modifier] Religions

Le catholicisme est reconnue comme la religion officielle au Costa Rica; plusieurs ticos clament qu'ils sont catholiques, mais peu suivent actuellement la doctrine religieuse à la lettre. La "Virgen de los Angeles" aussi connue comme La Negrita est le plus important symbole de la religion catholique.

Il y a une tradition nommée La Romería selon laquelle des gens de l'ensemble du pays convergent tous les 2 août en direction de la cathédrale de Cartego. Ils visitent La Negrita, une image sombre de pierre de la Vierge Marie qui a apparemment été aperçue au XVIe siècle par un amérindien sur une colline située à Cartego, à l'endroit où la cathédrale a été construite. Le Costa Rica compte également plusieurs groupuscules qui pratique un mélange de catholicisme, d'occultisme et de traditions de leurs ancêtres africains ou amérindiens.

[modifier] Éducation

L'éducation est grandement valorisé au Costa Rica. Les premiers niveaux scolaires (primaire, secondaire, lycée/collège) sont gratuits et obligatoire pour tous les citoyens. Le pays compte également quatre grandes universités publiques incluant la plus importante du pays, l'Université du Costa Rica. Le pays compte également une grande variété d'établissements d'enseignements privés.

[modifier] Musique

Most music and the most representative folklore comes from the north of the country (the part that once had heavy Mayan influence), including the Nicoya Peninsula, and the Atlantic coast (Afro-Caribbean culture). Costa Rican music includes a rhythm known as tambito as well a distinctive musical genre known as punto. Two examples are the punto guanacasteco, which hails from Guanacaste (province), and the punto sancarleño, from San Carlos in Alajuela Province.

Nowadays, rock music is very popular. The Costa Rican rock movement started around the 70's - 80's and bands enjoys today some popularity, specially among young people. Bands such as Gandhi (who defines their music as 'eclectic rock in Spanish') and Evolucion (among others) are quite popular. This movement started in the early 80's with the pioneer work of the band Café con Leche and José Capmany.

[modifier] Cuisine

Les habitants du Costa Rica n'ont pas de spécialité gastronomique particulière ou un style de cuisine particulier ou de plats qui leur sont propres.

Ce qui s'approcherait le plus d'un plat national est "arroz con pollo" ("riz au poulet"), du poulet découpé dans du riz avec des pois chiches et de la coriandre.

"Olla de Carne" est une soupe avec beaucoup de différents légumes et viandes.

"Gallo Pinto" ("coq ???"), est un mélange d'haricots noirs, de riz blanc (tous deux souvent d'un repas de la veille), de coriandre, d'oignons, d'ail, de sel et d'une sauce spéciale. Ce plat est traditionnellement accompagné avec des œufs, de la viande, et/ou du natilla - une sorte de "sour cream" du Costa Rica -, ainsi qu'avec du plantain très frit et des tortillas de mais ou du pain, souvent pris au petit déjeuner.

Le déjeuner est considéré comme le repas principal de la journée. Il est souvent constitué d'une assiette appelée "casado", parce que les ingredients principaux, des haricots noirs et du riz, sont côte à côte comme s'ils étaient mariés. Les plat habituellement servis avec le "casado" varient, du poulet ou du bœuf en sauce, des galettes de pomme de terre au poisson.

Les jus de fruits ("refrescos," "frescos," "naturales," ou "batidos") sont souvent présents avec les repas. Mélangés avec de l'eau ou du lait, il en existe une très grande variété : canteloupe, fraise, tamarin, mangue, papaye, citron, mûre, guanabana, punch de fruit, horchata, cas ...

Le Costa Rica à une forte influence des Caraibes. Des plats comme "Pati" et "Rondon" sont devenus partie intégrante de la culture.

[modifier] Ambiance émotionnelle

Although it might seem odd to some Americans or Europeans, emotional ambiance is understood to be a valid and important concern. In all situations, the ideal is to keep things flowing in a friendly and relaxed manner without undue self-inflicted stress or worry. The Tico ideal is a very friendly, helpful, laid-back, unhurried, educated, hygenic, non-violent and environmentally aware people, with little worry about deadlines or the "normal" stresses of United States life. The Ticos don't sweat the small stuff, don't rush, and spend quality time with family and friends.

Some of the most important idiosyncratic elements of the Costa Rican people are the choteo and the quedar bien. Most Ticos tend to be cynical about their government and the future of the country, so they use lots of irony when talking; this is known as the choteo. Most are politically and socially passive and avoid confrontations; this practice is the quedar bien. In order to stay within quedar bien, they would rather lie to someone's face than confront them and cause problems.

[modifier] Comportement public

The barriers to social interaction are much lower than in the United States. Usually everyone is very abordable (approachable), and it is not considered odd to strike up a conversation with someone standing next to you at a stop light or sitting next to you on a bus. Public displays of anger or impatience, or a pointless refusal to be helpful and friendly, are seen as maleducado, (ill-bred or literally ill-educated) or "concho" (hard as a conch shell).

[modifier] Les étrangers vu par les Costa Ricains

Les visiteurs en provenance des États-Unis, du Canada et de l'Europe sont souvent considérés comme des gringos, which, unlike in some other Central American countries, is virtually always congenial in nature. Americans and Europeans are sometimes seen as cold and rude.

As more and more Americans discover Costa Rica, ils sont à l'origine d'une hausse des prix et d'une américanisation non désirée du pays. néanmoins, plusieurs Costa Ricains considèrent les États-Unis comme un ami et un allié; out of all nations south of its border, the U.S. probably enjoys the highest approval ratings in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has in the past been the destination of many grass-roots refugees from neighboring war-torn countries like El Salvador and Nicaragua; most of the immigrants higher up the socio-economic ladder moved on to wealthier economies like Canada, the United States, or Europe. These grass-roots foreigners are sometimes thought to display behavior which in Costa Rica could be considered uncouth, such as a certain loudness or rudeness. Crime is often blamed on immigrant Nicaraguenses.

[modifier] Pura Vida!

The phrase that embodies the Tico lifestyle is Pura Vida,, literally translated as Pure Life, meaning roughly "This is living!" or "Cool!" Friends often greet or salute each other with Pura vida mae (or Pure life, dude, which could be rendered as "This is living, dude!") Another translation might be something like "distilled life!" suggesting "I am experiencing the best in life"; and since life is about friendship, relaxation, flirting, happiness and good fun, this means you are having a wonderful time. This all-encompassing statement is used by many Costa Ricans (and expatriates) to refer to the free spirit and love for life of this tropical country. Also refers to the state of something going really well or being very positive. See uses below.

Uses

"Pura vida" is widely used in Costa Rica. People use it to refer to their mood or personality as well as to a situation.

-Ese mae es pura vida (that dude is pure life). Meaning that the dude is really cool, friendly and fun to be with.

-¿Cómo te fue en el exámen? (How did you do in the exam?) -Pura vida, creo que me saqué un cien (Pure life, I think I got an A+). Meaning I did really well.

-¿Cómo estuvo el viaje a la playa? (How was the trip to the beach?) Pura vida, la pasamos excelente. (Pure life, we had an excellent time) meaning everything went well and had a great time.

Less frequently people use it as to say that they agree with something.

-Vamos al cine el viernes? (Want to go to the movies on Friday?) -Pura Vida, yo me llego a su casa a las 6 p.m. (Pure life, I'll be at your place at 6 p.m.)

Some people don't agree with this and other uses because they think that pura vida is being abused in a way that distorts its true meaning, however you do occasionally hear expressions such as the one above. Which takes us, to the wrong uses of "pura vida."

Wrong uses

-"La comida estuvo pura vida!" (the food was pure life). The food is not something you usually associate with pura vida. You can say that the people working in a restaurant are pura vida, or that the atmosphere of the restaurant is pura vida, but not the food. However, you occasionally hear some people using pura vida in this and other weird ways. Most things are usually not associated with pura vida because pura vida is a feeling, a way of life. However, you can say that a party was pura vida, meaning that the atmosphere of the party was great, that it was a heck of a party.

-"Mi perro es pura vida" (My dog is pure life). Ticos usually don't refer to their animals as being pura vida. There are some that might do it but, this is rare and is thought of by many as another example of pura vida abuse.

Never use pura vida with something negative, you'll sound like a complete fool as you are only contradicting yourself and the true meaning of pura vida. For example don't ever say:

-"El accidente estuvo pura vida, todos se salvaron" (The accident was pure life, everyone survived). Even though everyone survived (which is great), something like an accident can never be pura vida.

There are many other wrong uses for pura vida but, these are some of the most frequent. If any other Ticos can think of some additional examples you are more than welcome to add them to this section.