The document discusses the author's experience visiting Costa Rica and observations of the country's culture based on various frameworks. The author notes that Costa Rica has a more relaxed, "being" oriented culture where people value family and leisure over work. It is seen as a feminine, collectivist society where relationships and group cooperation are highly important. Costa Rica also has high context communication where much information is implied rather than directly stated, and a larger power distance where people rely on each other and authority figures. The author found interacting with locals and seeing everyday life gave valuable insight into Costa Rican culture beyond what can be learned from textbooks alone.

1. Intercultural Communications
Melissa Murphy
09/04/2014
Costa Rica
In my sophomore year of high school, I had the opportunity to go to Costa
Rica for two weeks during my spring break. I was able to learn a lot about their culture by both
interacting with the inhabitants and observing their way of life. I would like to focus on the
following typologies from Hofstede and Hall regarding Costa Rica: It is a being country,
feminine, is particularist, has collectivism, has a high context culture and has a larger power
distance compared to other Latin American countries.
What made me think that Costa Rica should be considered a Being country
had much to do with both the pace of the people. Costa Ricans, I noticed, are much more
relaxed, and live a less hectic lifestyle than I am accustomed to in the United States. I noticed
for instance, that I would see many people lounging on hammocks in the middle of the days
instead of working. Also, when we ate meals, they seemed to take forever because we would all
talk and not rush through the meal. They seemed to have a very laid back way of dealing with
issues and never seemed to worry about anything. They believe that events are determined by
fate and that things will happen as they are meant to. Opposite to how I try to solve issues,
Costa Ricans blow over problems and don’t make it a huge ordeal. They are more likely to let
things go, and to move on with their lives without overthinking.
Costa Rica is a feminine country. Their mindset is small and beautiful and
they don’t need much to make themselves happy with life. They seemto value their quality of

2. life as opposed to going further with their careers. I noticed that they would rather make less
money and instead spend more time with their family. They value relaxation and happiness
more than greed and materialistic goods. They work in order to provide basic necessities, they
don’t live to work. They work for shorter amounts of time and stores seemed to close down
earlier to allow for the workers to have more time to relax. I noticed that many people lived in
small wooden homes, and many family members would sleep with one another. It was rare to
see anyone with an oversized cars and I did not see any huge homes. It was interesting to see
shops and restaurants closed during the middle of the day just because the workers wanted to
take a long lunch with their families. People only seem to really work because things need to be
produced and they need to work to survive. They live within in their means, and don’t live in
excess.
Costa Rica is a particularistic country for various reasons. They value their
bonds and relationships with friends highly. Instead of thinking that they are just friends,
oftentimes they see them as family members. They feel a sense of protectiveness and rules are
secondary. If someone breaks the law, they think more along the lines of protecting the person
as opposed to turning them into the authorities. One example, that I could remember was
when I met a Costa Rican family and they tried to convince me that the twenty people in the
room were all family members. Based on my shocked face they explained to me that no they
weren’t all blood relatives. They instead, were all so close that they felt as though they were
family members. They share a common value on the importance of friends that I found
interesting. It could be seen that Costa Ricans truly make it a point to make people feel
welcome and a part of their family.

3. Costa Rica is a country that seems as though they value collectivism. The
people seem to rely on each other more in times of need and in general. They act as though
they are a “we” country. They seem as though they share the responsibility. One example that I
noticed when I was there was when a farmer needed to plant crops. A large group of Costa
Ricans met at his house and helped him to plant the whole field with crops. Instead of making
him do everything himself, they were more than happy to help him get the job done quickly.
They also don’t seem like a very independent culture. Their relations with both neighbors and
family members have a huge impact on their daily life. They seemlike they were born into a
social structure that has its own rules of what is normal and abnormal. Seeing their own rules
and how they go about solving issues was also new. For example, when pedestrians cross the
street, the cars don’t have to stop to let them cross. There isn’t a typical law or rule that
automobiles have to stop. They just allow things to happen without really taking into context
how it would be viewed in another country.
Costa Rica is a high context country. I found that unless you have a well-
informed tour guide leading you around the whole country, that it wasn’t easy for me, an
American, to find my way around with ease. One aspect that I noticed was the amount that
Costa Ricans communicate with one another. Each Costa Rican has its own slew of information,
and they rely on context to help explain information. They seemed like they always had a
constant stream of information to share and it would take them very long to fully explain
everything to me and my fellow students. Keeping in contact with their friends and family is a
high priority for them. They keep in constant communications with everyone in their lives. It
almost seems that in order to function and be a member of society there they need to

4. communicate. I saw that in all aspects of their days they relied heavily on communication. It
was new for me because, overall, I like to keep to myself and I’m more of an independent kind
of person. Having to adapt to communicating more every day in order to find my way around
was new and interesting.
Costa Rica has a larger power distance compared to many other Latin
American countries. This adds to the fact that Costa Rica is collectivist. They as a whole are very
dependent on one another for everyday interactions and to learn new information. I noticed
that they are so used to depending on one another to finish both tasks and personal fulfillment.
Their mentality is that if they band together to do a project that it will get done quicker and
maybe even better than if they had to do it independently. I went to a high school to visit and
the roof had rain damage from a previous storm. Not only did the student body come together
so did the community surrounding the high school. It was amazing to see so many people
together to complete a task. It also seems as though it is perfectly normal for them to rely and
almost expect others to help in all situations.
What a wonderful experience it was to get to see how another culture works.
It is beneficial to go and get to know new people from a different part of the world. It is one
thing to learn about cultures of people out of text books, but it is actually interacting and
observing the country that allows for a greater understanding. By actively looking at the
country, and seeing the country through the eyes of typologies it opens up to new perspectives
that I wouldn’t have realized without previous knowledge. I hope that you have a better
understanding of how there are various typologies in Costa Rica.