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COSTA RICA |
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Normal To You Is Weird To Us
By Kristina Peltin, The Daily Aztec.
Can anyone actually define what is “logical”
or not? Yes, some things may seem logical to
some, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that
it’s obvious to everyone else. Here in Costa
Rica, logic seems to have an entirely
different meaning and to be quite honest,
sometimes I find it mind-boggling.
Example #1
I take the same bus to school every Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 7:15. I
usually get on at the first stop, but if I’m
running late, I know which corner it passes
next so that I can still catch it.
Last week there was a protest by the taxi
drivers and the streets were packed. As the
bus pulled out, the driver decided to take a
different route and circumvent the protest.
This may seem logical if you’re in your own
car driving just yourself, but the bus
driver completely skipping four stops made
me think, “What the hell would I have done
if I didn’t get on at the first stop?”
Lógico.
Example #2
Until about a week ago, it was rainy season
here in Costa Rica, meaning it poured every
day. And although Costa Rica has two
seasons, wet and dry, I cannot figure out
why the general population doesn’t plan for
this.
I sit in a café for more than an hour
waiting for my Costa Rican friend and when
he finally arrives, he’s calmer than I´d
like him to be and simply says, “Sorry I’m a
little late; it was raining.”
Really? No way! That’s odd, it’s raining in
wet season, which lasts about half of the
year by the way … OK he’s only about 22
years old; it’s not like this is his first
wet season. So he never once thought that
maybe with it raining, it might take a
little longer? Lógico.
Example #3
Group projects suck. It doesn’t matter what
country you’re in. But when you’re working
with a partner in a class that’s not in your
native tongue, it basically makes you
dependent on that partner.
First of all, we had about six weeks to
complete this project, which involved
interviewing someone, recording it and
transcribing the whole interview to analyze.
As if the interview itself wasn’t difficult
enough because my Spanish is lacking; but
then to transcribe it all word-for-word is
practically impossible because half the
words are too advanced. I understand the
main idea, such as, “Life, difficult, money,
none …” Oh! OK, got it.
So I couldn’t do it alone, but every time I
called my partner he made some horrible
excuse. I was helpless. But when the day
before it was due came around, I called and
we planned to do it all together.
I asked for directions to his house and he
said, “So wait, you’re going to come here?
For … to do what?”
“Um, I was thinking the project that we’ve
had six weeks to do and now only have one
day. How does that sound?”
“Yeah but class isn’t until 6 p.m., we have
plenty of time.”
Plenty of time, really? Lógico!
So the day it’s due, he has some excuse for
not doing it and the teacher says it’s fine
and to turn it in when we can … along with
the rest of class who also has close to
nothing done. Lógico.
Example #4
My friend who is also studying abroad
learned Costa Rican logic with her own group
project too.
They had a few weeks to research something
and make a presentation but for weeks they
just kept telling her it was OK because they
knew someone who had already done the same
thing so they could use that.
Perfect!
So she kept getting more and more nervous
and asked them to send it to her before the
presentation so she could at least be
familiar with what to say.
They e-mail it the night before and she
checks the Web sites they used to get more
information only to find that there isn’t
any more information because they literally
copied and pasted the whole Web site into
their presentation.
Logically (American logic I mean), she
freaks out with the word “plagiarism”
flashing in her head.
But when she goes to her host family they
look at her blankly and say, “Yeah, so?”
She says, “That’s illegal! It’s stealing.”
“No it’s not,” her host sister answers.
“That’s just how you do it. You find what
you need and put it in a document. How do
you think I did my thesis?”
My friend thinks, “Your thesis … for
graduate school?!” Lógico?
- Kristina Peltin is an interdisciplinary
studies junior studying abroad in Costa
Rica.
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