My eyes were brimming with tears. They hadn’t broke the seal yet, but close, and I fought hard to hold them back. I was in a community meeting with a board of directors of an English community school – a project I am working on as a Peace Corps volunteer. They hadn’t seen this side of me and I wasn’t about to let them. My frustration for lack of communication between the board and the teachers finally physically manifested itself in this form, paired with a twinge of fieriness and a little bit of a temper.
After having lived in this community over a year now, I am feeling comfortable. I am learning the pace of this culture and the ins and outs of working in it. And it is nothing beyond easy. And so when I found myself filled to the brim with frustration in front of the board of directors, I learned a big lesson.
Long-term international development work is a unique experience. It’s quite different than just moving to a new city in your own culture to start a job. Not only do you know no one, but you also don’t know the culture and how they work. Can they work as a team? Can they not? Are they efficient? Are they organized? You learn all that by trial and error. As I have found out, there are many important lessons to learn when beginning to work in another culture.
First, the biggest lesson I have learned, is to not to get too stressed about anything. Coming from a fast paced culture, we are used to deadlines and efficiency. Upon my first few times of experiencing extreme inefficiency in my community work here in Costa Rica, I saw that no one else but ME was worried or stressed about it. I quickly let that go. It’s just a cultural difference.
Second, know that the pace of life is different. Life moves slower in Latin America. In Costa Rica, the official country slogan is pura vida, or pure life, which basically means everything is all right and no worries abound. Life is slow, simple, lovely, worry-free. Another one of those cultural differences.
Third and finally, as in any culture, communication is key! Lack of communication will contribute to frustration and to being what the Costa Ricans call “brava” or bossy/fiery/snappy, oftentimes in inappropriate situations (like in front of a board of directors)! Also, remember, what may seem as a lack of communication to us, could also just be chalked up to another one of those cultural differences.
But don’t get me wrong, I know that working in another culture can also be extremely rewarding. It’s these important lessons we learn through cultural differences that make us more well-rounded people, ready to face any challenge that comes our way, in our own culture or in another.
Rebecca Stumpf is currently a Peace Corps volunteer in Copey de Dota, Costa Rica. To read more about her experiences and see more of her photography, check out her website and photography blog. For some delicious recipes, check out her food blog.
Latest posts by beckarie
- It's All About Who You Know - October 7th, 2010
- Office-Errr, House Hours - September 17th, 2010
- Observing From the Inside - July 29th, 2010
- Ode to Costa Rica - July 15th, 2010
- Is Living in Latin America Turning Me Into a Hypochondriac? - July 6th, 2010
- Day in the Life: On Laundry - June 17th, 2010
- A Land with Stories to Tell - June 10th, 2010
