Professors Robert E. Rubin and Derek Petrey presented the latest International Series event in Building 8 on Costa Rica.
Costa Rica ranked first in the “World’s Happiest Country” annual polling. With no standing military and only a small national guard and police force, Costa Rica is often known as the “Switzerland of the Americas” for its peacefulness.
Rubin is the Director of English as a Second Language at Wright State University and Professor Petrey teaches courses in Spanish at Sinclair and is the Director of Sinclair’s Honors Program.
They started off by serving gallo pinto, which translates directly to “painted roosters,” but is really just rice and beans. They also served tres leches, which translates to “three milks,” a cake that is made with evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream.
Costa Rica is a Central American country that lies directly between Panama and Nicaragua. It is approximately the size of Virginia and has a population of about 4.5 to 5 million people. The majority of the country lives in the center, near the mountain range. Their capital is San José, which houses about one million people.
Rubin said that Costa Rica has the largest percentage of protected rainforests. Instead of cutting down their trees, they charge fees to zip line and hike through their rainforests.
Petrey shared a favorite phrase of Costa Ricans, puravida. Meaning “pure life,” Petrey said that they live purely–without the many distractions of some technologies.
The most popular religion in Costa Rica is Catholicism, with around 95 percent of Costa Ricans identifying as Catholic.
Costa Ricans use the colón for their currency; it was named after Christopher Columbus. An American dollar would equal 500 colóns in Costa Rica. Growing and exporting coffee is a major business in Costa Rica.
Petrey and Rubin ended the talk with a question and answer session. One student asked about Costa Rica’s government.
Similar to parts of the American government, Costa Rica has two chambers and an elected president.
A trip to Costa Rica would cost about $700 – $800 for a round-trip ticket, hotel prices vary. The plane trip from Dayton to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Costa Rica would take about 4 – 5 hours without layovers, a distance of just under 3600 miles.
Laina Yost
Intern