News In Costa Rica and My Own Culture

Culture 

As I wrote last week about culture it comes to my mind my own culture that I was raised in. I was raised in a Mexican household were traditions hold strong but at the same time I was raised in the United States not in Mexico. I have an immigrant upbringing the first generation, the child of immigrants that moved here from Mexico seeking a better life.


Storti has a chart about the differences between cultures it got my attention more than anything because it shows how many different cultures vary.

This chart shows the differences between the US and Mexico as I have circled above. One can clearly see that there is a big difference between the two cultures they are on opposite sides of the spectrum. What I did was place myself on where I think I fit in between the two cultures because of me being part of the two cultures. 

Here is the second image the X is depicting me as were I see myself.

At times I lean more towards one culture more than the other one because while at home I was raised with the values and beliefs that most Mexicans are brought up in. For myself I went to school in America were I socialized with other students that gave me a different perspective on life. Also as I get older the more that I change while I still hold some of the values and beliefs as before my perspective as given me a different lens in which to see the world. I either moved myself more to become Americanized or even to hold some of the values that I was raised with. 

I want to expand on my reasons on why in some parts of the charts I either lean more one way or the other. 

Concept of Self

I see myself as more in the middle not being an individualist or collectivist it all having to do with were I am at that moment. It all depends on the occasion because in general there are times that I am heavily being a collectivist because I value the relationships that I have with people more than anything else. Then there are times when I am an individualist when I have to make the choice to care about what is going on with me more than anyone else. In having to do things on my own I feel a sense of pride that I accomplished something on my own. 

Personal vs. Societal Responsibility 

In the personal vs. societal responsibility I lean heavily towards my American roots being more of Universalist and less Particular. I feel that people should be treated with fairness in every sense of the word but at the same time I know that is not possible. I know that people should be treated equally but that doesn't mean that people will be expecting that. It is that people that expect fairness each demand that they be treated different then the person next to them. That is something that is should not be expected because in reality even that is not fair.

All in all, I am a person raised in a culture different then any other and everyone is that also because no two people are the same it would be a very boring world if it was. 

Costa Rican News 

I read online news articles about what seems to be relevant to the online newspaper The Tico Times. For the past few days almost a week I have looked at a couple articles that have caught my eye.
Here is an image of what the site looks like.

Here is the website just click the link it will take you there: Tico Times
In the news this past week there has been talks about politics and Nicaragua.
Here are some of the headlines:

As one can see from the headlines the most prominent that caught my eye were of the political changes going on in Costa Rican legislation. Also, how there is a connection to Nicaragua in Costa Rica in connection to what is happening right now with Nicaragua.

The one that can my eye first was that 5 out of 6 leadership positions in legislation are made up of women now. The article takes about the historical implications that the new legislation has created. The new legislators will be part of the 2018-2022 leaders. The person leading will be Carolina Hidalgo. She has been part of Congress since the 2000 she is part of the Citizen Action Party putting an emphasis on the fiscal agenda under her management. Leading in conjunction with her is Vice President of the legislation María Inés Solís part of the Social Christian Unity Party.

The next one that caught my eye was the President-elect unveils a gender balanced multi-party cabinet. Carlos Alvarado is the president elect for Costa Rica the 48th president of Costa Rica.

Then the other article that caught my eye was the vigil that people are holding for Nicaragua at the time. The continued vigils held for the people from Nicaragua. It shows the big relationship that both countries have even though at times it is difficult.

The last article that I looked at was how Evangelicals make up a larger percent of the legislations. It is talking about how many different things are coming up and changing the make up of congress.