Classroom Costa Rica

Costa Rica,  according to the guide books, is one of the world’s greatest sources for finding music of different sorts, and even genres mixed together to make something you’ve never heard before.  People say the country holds some of the world’s greatest dance, music, and singing competitions and also parties on the planet. However this was not quite the experinece we had on our trip.
One of many events is Juan Santamaria day. The morning of the homestay was actually Juan Santamaria day but you would not have known it, I guess the people we were with were just doing their daily work . We had thought Juan Santamaria day was going to be a week of fun that is celebrated across the country of Costa Rica that includes bands, parades, concerts, and dancing. And maybe it did happen at the capital or some other big town, but we did not see it.
Before we went to Costa Rica I did a lot of research on music of the country. I read about how there is a community civic party where everybody gets together to listen to local bands. And how the morning starts with a parade that goes through the streets around 5 am and is followed by a car with sirens.  Unfortunately most of the things I read about in the guide books, or on the internet we did not get to experience. (Although we did get to experience the howler monkeys.)
This could have been because we were not in a town where young people are out at night and having fun. The place we stayed was quiet and remote and people concentrated more on ecology rather then music and parties.
The class had also noticed that posters in the kid’s rooms of the home stays had the pictures of Black-Eyed Peas and other bands we know today. Also my classmates had the home stays listen to music on their  Ipods, and they seemed to enjoy the songs of Fergalicious very much. Also when I interviewed the class about what they remembered about the music it turns out they did not remember much, nor had they written about it in their journals.
All in all we did not hear a lot of music in Costa Rica, not even in the markets or on the streets. Maybe if I go to Costa Rica again and stay in San Jose I will have the chance to hear these things.

-Skylar

Comments RSS