During my homestay this past weekend I noticed many differences between the family structure and gender roles present as opposed to those I have grown up with. In my house, my mom has always been the bread winner, while my dad, by choice, was home after school to take care of my sister and I. In the Ramirez household, la madre, Ana, estaba en la cocina o en la sala todo el día. Solo salió de la casa para ir al mercado por comida. In the United States, the gender roles have been blurred during the 20th century due to the fight for women's equality. In the US, a women's role in the kitchen is seen as discriminatory, pero en Costa Rica es tradición y es correcta.
In the United States, it is seen as a failure when children still live at home past the age of about 18-20. Children go off to college and once they graduate, they are not expected to live at home, except for maybe a transitional month or two. Pero, en Costa Rica es normal que los hijos viven en sus casas hasta se casan. In America, this would be looked down upon. Lastly, a difference that I wish was rather a similarity, is that aquí en Costa Rica todos los vecinos que pasan por la calle son primos. Durante el sabado, la casa estuvo llena de relativos. I haven't seen much of my mom's side of the family in over 10 years. My dad's side is very close, but physically we live across the country so visits are as frequent as possible, but still only twice a year. This is probably due to the development and size of the US, but it is something I wish we could change. (Though I'm not one to talk, as I attend college 3,000 miles away from my home..)
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