Response 9

ULACIT

CULTURA Y SOCIEDAD CONTEMPORÁNEA AMERICANA

Professor: Neli Santiago
Student: Leonie Krug

ESSAY ABOUT PATCHWORK QUILT

We were all very excited about the event since we thought we had to give our little speech in front of everybody. So we were as well relieved when we realized that we only had to pair up and tell our partner about the Costarican culture.

My partner was Daniel from the United States, an architecture student of the age of 22; he was very nice and friendly and I hope he enjoyed our conversation the same way I did!
I started off by telling him about the legends of the virgin of Cartago, and compared it to the European legend of St. Jacob. (Please see content of the legends and research notes under Quilt Piece, also on the blog.) Another classmate brought me an actual virgin they hand over every week to a different person at their workplace, and he found that very interesting. He told me that in the United Stated George Washington has almost the status of a saint! We agreed that people nowadays, living in a highly globalized and technical world, still need spiritual support like these legends to “hold on to”. So you can find this spiritual/religious aspect in every culture.
He asked me if it was/is difficult to adapt to a culture so different from my own- and I told him that in some aspects it definitely is. Germans are for example very strict and punctual people, and Ticos are more laid back and in general late, so I sometimes get annoyed by that. But all in all I let him know I love Costa Rica and its people, and won’t regret my decision to stay in Costa Rica.

I enjoyed the activity, I also talked to a Swiss guy and two German boys, and it was refreshing to hear someone speak my native language! I think that this activity really brought people together, making them aware of their cultural differences in a very positive, tolerant, and non-judgmental way. And this is, especially for future language teachers, incredibly valuable!