Assembly interview with Chico

Cherie, 17

Here are some interesting things that we as a group got from our first interview at the Assembly.

One of the first things that "Chicho" said about the political process was pretty interesting. He mentioned that it really wasn't about party vs. party, but it was more about circumstance vs. circumstance. By that, I think he meant that it's really not about a difference of opinions between parties, because each person within the party is likely to have their own ideas, but its really dependent on the cirumstance. This leads into one of his biggest person delemias because sometimes he doesn't always agree with the idea is party is representing, but it's what they have to do, so he has so go along with it. That of course can lead into another personal delemia of his, which is political corruption. Another interesthing he said about the politcal process was in relation to the involvement of religion. He mentioned that it has a major role in the politics in Costa Rica, to the point that it's even mentioned that they're a an almost all Catholic region in their constitution. Despite that, he said that everyone thinks that it should remain absent from it, but everyone is leaves it, just to avoid controversy.
Another idea Chico had was on happiness. Like many people, he believes that wealth isn't the greatest factor when it comes to getting happiness. Instead, it should come from being healthy and having longevity. This is interesting, because Costa Rica has a lot of poor neighborhoods and they have a very high life long expectancy. However, I feel like it is kind of disproved in some parts of this country. When we visited La Carpio in the first few days of our trip, we noticed that even though these people had practically nothing, they seemed to be so happy. This would fit his definition, except that the people of La Crapio have a lower life expectancy and theyre health conditions are slightly poor. This was just interesting to see that his idea fit true in most of Costa Rica, but there are still places where you can achieve happiness without the things that he mentioned.
One of the last things that Chico discussed with us was his opinion on power. I asked, "What is your personal view of power? What makes a person or country powerful," and he gave us a really interesting answer. He said that power is something that is self determined and that a country is powerful when they are independent. However, he says that would only work well with smaller structures because the bigger the structure, the harder it will be for them to change into something that is going to work well. This was interesting because with his definiton, it seemed that he was directly saying that Costa Rica was a powerful country, despite the fact that they don't seem like it at times.

Arturo, 17

Our second full day in Costa Rica was spent getting more familar with the community. While in San Jose, some students are tired of eating rice and beans for breakfast lunch, and dinner. However, others are actually feeling good about the pattern.

In the morning we interviewed ¨Chico¨ who is an advisor to many powerful diputados (congresspeople) of the PLN political party in Costa Rica. Hearing him speak and answer our questions, he seemed to feel very comfortable with us being around him and taking photos. In other words, he sounded very truthful when answering our questions. Afterwards, he gave us a brief tour of the congress building with a lot of historical information.

After our long intervew with Chico, our day wasn't over yet. It was just the beginning. We went to La Carpio to finish what we started the day before. However, this time with more intense work. We finished building the road by mixing rocks, sand, and water to make cement. It was a very challenging task with all the students shoveling and carrying heavy equipment, but at the end feeling proud. At the end I felt that everyone worked as a big group and felt proud of what we had done to help the community of La Carpio.

Day 4 of Costa Rica

Kiera, 16

Today was one of my favorite days so far. We did a lot of running around today, but it was fun. First thing in the morning, we went to a place called Dos Piños. It is a organic dairy factory located in Alajuela, Costa Rica. It was a gigantic factory, that was really up-to-date on everything. I liked visiting this factory because it gave me the realization of how other companies outside of the U.S. run.

It was interesting how their milk "leche"can be kept out of refrigeration for up to 6 months. The two tour guides explained many things to us, which gave each and everyone of us, a different insight on how their business works. One thing that we though was really funny is that the security gaurds had guns on them, and Matyas made a funny comment saying ¨Wow, they must really serious about their milk." They were really nice to us, they gave us ice cream, and a stuffed animal, in the shape of a cow.

The second great thing we did was visit the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica. I was kind of upset that we couldn´t take photos or video tape it, but it was a great experience that gave me a little thought of a future career. We met with two women that both have important jobs. I cannot recall their names, but I do recall most of the information they gave us.

The first lady talked to us more about economic and social affairs that the Embassy is involved with. We had some questions asking about the projects they are doing to benefit Costa Rica, and it seems like one of their main goals for the country is to ensure a safe envirnoment. I believe that is a really important goal, because Costa is a really "outside-the-box" country, but in a good way. They abolished their military, which shows they have a different mindset, and they don´t believe in any type of violence.

We asked both of the speakers about how their personal beliefs and values, influence their political decisions. They both responded by saying that it´s their job to represent the United States, and they may have their personal views, but they have to do their jobs. This statement related a lot to my thoughts of career, because I want to become a district attorney one day, and I have a lot of thoughts about the death penalty. I feel as though sometimes it will be difficult, because of the career choice, and sometimes I think about my future, and I don´t know where to draw the line. The second lady I related to a lot more, because she is actually being relocated into Afghanistan next month. It´s a dangerous thing, just like becoming a district attorney, so right now I think my biggest question of life is "Where do I draw the line?"