Since we have been here, the Lord has been opening my eyes to certain things about the culture we are in and what exactly I can learn from it. Costa Rica hasn’t been too much of a culture shock due to the fact that it is pretty westernized, but there are a few differences that are noticeable. This first thing is how the culture views time vs how I view time. Society in the U.S. teaches us to make the most out of our time, use it wisely, and respect other people’s time. All of those things lead to a natural sense of urgency and we tend to have a need to always be moving and doing something. All of those things pretty much describe me. I like to be as efficient with my time as possible and I like to be on time to everything if I can help it.
No joke, this country moves in slow motion, and the term they told us to describe it was “tico time”. This culture could care less about being on time to anything, and no one cares if anyone is late. This is because this culture values relationships much more than efficiently. They value spending time getting to know and just talking with no agenda or sense of urgency, which isn’t a bad thing. I don’t think that either country is wrong or right, they are just different. What has been difficult for me is adjusting to a no time sensitive type of schedule and that sounds like it would be easy but surprisingly, at least for me, its harder than it seems. God has really been beginning to teach me patience and learning to move at a slower pace, and its so counter opposite to what I have done my whole life. So right now, I am just trying to learn how to rest in a moment and enjoy just being
