"Noche Tipica Costariccence", a Typical Night in Costa Rica

The Intercultura sponsored a bus trip to a “Noche Tipica Costariccense,” a typical Costa Rican Night. This was held in a restaurant on top of a mountain in the big city San Jose, and for a fee of $38, we had access to all we could eat and drink (in addition to a show) all night. The food was okay, but after the great food at La Paz, it was a little disappointing for all the money we paid.

Since we had to change into our dressy clothes directly after class after the waterfalls, we all had had a long day, but still had fun dressing up!

Dana, Jenni, Jen and me in front of the beautiful view of San Jose

The view from outside of the restaurant was breathtaking. In the dark, one could see all the lights of the city of San Jose.

the view was even more impressive in person!

The show after dinner was very interesting. The Ticos dressed up in traditional Costa Rican dress and performed some intricate dances to a live band. Later in the show, people were brought up to dance, and I got to go up there twice!

You can see me in action dancing here.

Dana and me with the dancers!

Then, outside, we were told there would be fireworks. Their concept of fireworks was a little different from ours; there was a little contraption with pipes jutting out from its sides that spun around and shot sparks from the pipes. Not quite the pyrotechnics we are used to, but it was still neat to see how Costa Ricans do things.

Costa Rican fireworks

We all drank drinks called “leche” (which, directly translated, means “milk”... I’m not sure how this drink got that nickname, because it does not taste nor look anything like milk). This included guaro, the popular sugarcane liquor of Costa Rica, orange juice, and sprite. It was a little strong for my taste.

The food at the Noche Tipica was a good representative for me of what Costa Rican cuisine is like. Many would expect the food there to be like Mexican food; however, the similarities end at the tortillas, which are a lot smaller than Mexican tortillas and served cold. Costa Rican food is either extremely bland (usually). When you are actually given hot sauce to add to your food, it is so spicy it is almost inedible. Surprisingly, because of the tease of Costa Rica cuisine, after a month there, all I wanted was Mexican food!