Friday, May 23, 2008

You are not a Tico

(Unless, of course, you were born here, then you are a Tico, obviously!) I was thinking about this subject the other day, because a friend of mine (who lives in Peru) asked me if I felt like a Tica now, after living here almost 8 years. The answer is, No. I feel like a Gringa in Ticolandia. I will probably always feel like a Gringa, even though I married a Tico and have a Tico son and live in a Tico neighborhood with Tico neighbors; even though I speak Spanish well enough and probably write it a lot better than many Ticos. The reason is not up to me: Ticos are never going to accept me, an "outsider," as a Tico. Never. And that's just fine by me; I'm perfectly happy with who I am and where I'm from. So forget any aspirations you might have of someday becoming a Tico, it just ain't gonna happen, and if you think that because you've lived here a while that somehow makes you Tico, you're just fooling yourself. Maybe, perhaps, possibly if you live here most of your life and marry a Tico and have Tico kids in Tico schools, maybe then you'll be accepted into Tico society, but you still won't be a Tico.

As an example. A friend of mine who has lived most her life in Costa Rica, speaks Spanish like a native, but whose parents are Gringo and Nica, is not considered a Tico. She's around my age; she's lived here just about forever. If she ever has kids, they will be considered Tico, but she never will. It's just the way things are here, culturally.

The other thing is that (and I'm saying this from my own experience plus the experience of people I know personally and people I don't but whom I've written about) it can be hard to make friends with Ticos if you're not from Latin America (and even if you are, to some degree). I don't know what it is, but Ticos are very closed off to people who are not Ticos. (They can talk quite a bit of smack in regards to Nicas, Panamanians, Mexicans, Colombians, etc., let me tell you!) Again, I think it's just cultural and I don't really let it affect me. All of my friends here are either Americans, Brits or Canadians (with a few other random nationalities thrown in the mix for good measure :-) ). I don't really take offense, and neither should you. It's just the way it is.

Digg!

3 comments:

  1. By reading what you wrote it seems to me like you are not a very friendly person and that is the reason wh yyou will never be a Tica even though you die for it....

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  2. Oh, sad little troll! You've got me all figured out! That's EXACTLY it! Deep down inside, I am just dying to be a Tica! Thank you so much for enlightening me. Must have hit pretty close to home for you to get you coming at me swinging, huh? You must feel like quite the big man now, I bet!

    Ok, let me let you in on a little secret: I could be a Costa Rican citizen if I wanted to! you might have missed the part of my post where I said I was married to a Tico (for almost 9 years now, happily, in fact!) and have a Tico son. So yes, I could technically be a "Tica" if it is what I wanted. But I don't. Again, I suppose your reading skills are such that you skipped right over the part where I said I was happy with who and what I am -- Gringa, in case you missed it!

    Yep, you're right, Mr. Troll, what I really want most in life is to live as an self-centered, egotistical, rah-rah, siss-boom-bah, aren't I glad I'm a Tica! While I'm at it, I ought to throw some bars on my windows, and maybe start driving like an asshole. Would that make me more Tica?

    On second thought, I'll stick to being a Gringa who has quite a few good friends, and you can stick to being a judgemental asshole who trolls other people's blogs with an axe to grind.

    Oh, and please don't bother posting here or elsewhere on my blog again. This is the only time I'm ever going to give you ink.

    Hugs and kisses!
    -Raven

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  3. You go, Girl! 'People' don't see well while they're seeing red. You are too funny. At least the people who know you know what a fabulous person you are.

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