Author: rfitzpa2

Anyone who knows me knows there’s one thing I’ll always bring up in conversation: “what are the black people up to?” So one thing that’s often on my mind, given my upcoming research project, is what are the struggles and the triumphs of Afro-Costa Rican people.

I have realized that, of course, race relations here are not the same as they are in the US. When the topics of African influence or Afro-Costa Rican people come up in conversation, people don’t always know what to say. If I refer to racist or hateful actions in the US, the general response is “that’s just not a thing here.” While I have my doubts about Costa Rica being a perfectly democratic and egalitarian society, I have noticed a feeling of being more valued and dignified here in a way that I can’t quite explain.

This is a critical incident because of the difference in how I commonly talk about how to improve racial attitudes in the US compared to how I will have to continue to approach racial attitudes here. I’d like to keep my ear to the ground on racial attitudes and relations, and to do so I will have to remain aware of the cultural differences in engaging the concept of race.

In reflection, the first things that come to mind are 1) my cultural experiences before SLA and 2) my goals for intercultural development.

I thought a lot about the intercultural learning I’ve gained so far. I have been to a few different countries with that very goal in mind. But so much of a college education here in South Bend, Indiana, has been intercultural learning. A testament to that inconceivable amount of money that it costs to be educated here, is the inconceivable amount of intercultural learning I have gained from being here. I could not have imagined that multiculturalism would be such a big part of my college education or that it would transform my mind as it has. I have learned (sometimes in disagreement with others’ opinions) that everyone has “culture” because everyone has history and a relation to it. I have examined what culture really is- scientifically, sociologically. I have begun to examine what it means to build equity with both diversity and inclusion. Intercultural learning was born from all of these things in my life, and it will continue to grow with this summer experience and as I begin my senior year.

One of my goals is to connect with people in Costa Rica, particularly through understanding ways in which they suffer and how they find resilience. For me, there are constant imperatives to explain how my people are disadvantaged, why my life matters, and even that I am a regular human like my peers. I get pretty frustrated when I have to defend or justify black American people and culture. Because this can be difficult for me, I made it my goal to connect with people in their own language and talk about forms of resilience.