The US and Costa Rica: A Frank Comparison

We've spent the last two months in Dallas recovering from burnout and we go back to Costa Rica this Monday (I'll grab about four hours of sleep after the Super Bowl and we head out at about 3:30 a.m.). I thought you might be interested in some of my observations about the differences between the US and Costa Rica during our time here.

But first, let's rewind to the year 2000. At an orientation session a veteran missionary of 25 years of service handed us a paper with his observations contrasting the work ethics of Americans and Costa Ricans. We were asked for our thoughts about the contrasts. Something stood out for me immediately, but I did not say so because I was chicken--afraid to offend the man who would eventually become my boss. What jumped out at me from the page was that every observation he made about the American work ethic was positive, while every comment on the Costa Rica work ethic was negative.

I've seen a number of missionaries grow jaded and bitter with their years of service, and, to be perfectly honest, I came back for these two months because I was becoming that way myself. Other missonaries have historically sought to undermine and even destroy the cultures of the people they wanted to reach with the Gospel because they saw their own cultures as superior. Therefore the people could only benefit from a new culture. This is often derided as a tragic byproduct of the era of Western Imperialism. But, again, I believe that those missionaries meant well, and simply could not conceive of any other solution.

So I thought I would share some contrasts that I've observed during my time here of our two cultures. You'll find that, yes, the US wins and Costa Rica loses in each camparison. The lesson here, however, is that the solution is not an attitude of superiority and condescension, but of humility, love, patience and perseverance. When I find I've run out of these qualities, I need take a break, get with God, and go back as He leads.

Clean vs. Dirty
During our time in the US, we've seen very little litter. People hold on to their trash until they find a trash can. I even saw folks following their dogs around with pooper scoopers!

A couple of years ago I had a couple of hours to kill in the city of Limon, Costa Rica. I walked through the entire downtown section of the city (about ten square blocks). There was garbage everywhere. I found two trash cans in the entire downtown. They were about ten feet apart in a small park. If you take a bus from downtown San Jose to any other location, you can look out the windows and see the streets lined with litter. Cross any bridge and you'll see junk and garbage clogging the waterway below. If someone has a candy wrapper or empty bottle and there's not a trash can within reach, it is perfectly acceptable to throw it on the ground.

Trust vs. Suspicion
Here in Dallas, Martha had bought a large container of Lifesavers. When she opened the container, there was a pack of Lifesavers missing. I went back to Kroger, but it was evening and Customer Service was closed. I went to a cashier and explained the situation, a little embarrassed because I was afraid she'd think I had stolen the pack and now was trying to rip off the store. Instead, she let me keep the pack and reimbursed me for the entire purchase. Why? Because Americans trust each other. In Costa Rica the process would be much more complicated and the likely result would be that they'd say we should have checked the container before we bought it since lifting items from their containers is a common practice. In Costa Rica I always open an ice cream container to make sure no one has eaten out of it. I have bought ice cream (and know others who have too) and opened it when I got home and it had a hole where someone had scooped a chunk out with either a hand or a spoon.

In Costa Rica when you go to Walmart and other large stores, they give you a plastic card when you enter the parking lot in your car. You cannot leave with your car without returning the card to the guard. This is to prevent folks from walking in, breaking into your car and driving away in it. Here in the US I have never seen this system used. Why? Because here people are more trusting. And why are we Americans more trusting? Because, as a rule, we're more trustworthy.

Can Do vs. Fatalism
The missionary I mentioned earlier is also an inventor. Costa Rica gets a lot of rain (the tourist brochures don't tell you it rains every day for eight months of the year!). Out in the countryside a lot of people grow beans. Every year, the farmers lose a third of their bean crops to the heavy rains. This missionary invented a bean dryer so the farmers could increase their yield by 33%. How would you like it if your boss told you he or she would give you a 33% raise for a 10% increase in work? The bean dryer never caught on. The reason seemed to be a deeply ingrained fatalism that told the farmers they were interfering with God's will by trying to salvage their beans.

Working in the slums we have seen two kids graduate high school and go on to school in nearly twelve years. High school and college cost a couple of hundred dollars for fees and expenses per semester. There's no doubt that this is still lot of money to folks who are poor, but most Costa Rican families can do it if they are willing to sacrifice and prioritize. Instead, it breaks ours hearts to see kids turn 14 or 15, get pregnant, quit school, get minimum wage jobs (about two dollars an hour), and continue in the cycle of poverty. Nearly everyone we know has chosen this option, but to them it's not an option--it's just fate.

So what keeps us going? Just like we see on every page of the Bible God calling out a remnant of folks who want to be different--to be His people-- we see Him doing the same thing in Costa Rica in the slums, the prisons, and the city streets. In my less-than-finest moments I have seen myself as superior. When that happens, God gives me a reality check and reminds me that I'm guilty of many of the things I condemn in others. Then He tells me that whatever advantages I enjoy as an American are by His grace: "America, America, God shed His grace on thee." And finally, that one reason we are there is to humbly and lovingly share cultural insights like the ones I've mentioned here that are part and parcel of our American-ness. Which brings me back to the Gospel.

I believe that our country is so great because of its Judeo-Christian (that is, Biblical) underpinnings. And, I believe that both the material wealth and spiritual riches we enjoy are to be used to bless the rest of the world with God's love. As the Good News of Jesus takes root in places like Costa Rica, then we will see Christ transforming culture.