Culture shock: Boruca to Miami

I have been outside the USA for over a year, living in Costa Rica and traveling within Costa Rica as well as to Nicaragua and Panama. I get to see all types of lifestyles, from the very simple (cold showers and curtains for doors) to rather luxurious and Westernized (fancy Gringo-style houses with all the regular amenities and gourmet groceries). However, I am reminded which side I want to lean towards when I visit Boruca, one of the most magical places for me in the world. It always reminds me of the old adage: “Live simply so others can simply live”. We don't need to have a whole lot of “stuff” to be happy.

Boruca is an indigenous community nestled in the mountains about 6 hours south from the capital/Central Valley of Costa Rica. Many of the local men carve and paint intricate and beautiful masks and the women spin, hand dye and weave impressive cotton textiles. There's only a handful of cars and so it's safe for children to run from house to house visiting their extended family. When Julio and I visit we are invited into the homes of family or friends of our friend Pedro and are treated to amazing food cooked by his mother. Just a couple of days ago I was sitting in the dining area with a beautiful red earthen floor and listening to Pedro share lovingly about his ancestors and the significance of spirals – that in their religion there is no beginning nor end, that life passes as if in a spiral (also the flight of a sacred bird, the vulture), on a beautiful unbroken path.

Imagine then... just 36 hours later I was sitting in a hotel bar in Miami with too much stimuli, just having seen my first Starbucks in a whole year (hard to imagine, isn't it?!), reading about US presidential candidates in the trashy USA Today newspaper and watching a TV special about right wing conservative pastors' plot to swing the votes towards more conservative laws and elected leaders. Ugh. I wish I was back in Boruca conversing with the locals and watching the time pass slowly by.