Every time I go to a friend´s house, party, or restaurant in America, a little worry always comes up in my head: “Will there be something for me to eat there?” As a vegetarian, I always face the problem of having trouble finding food to eat. I was scared upon coming to Costa Rica that I would have even less options of food to eat, but suprisingly, I have had even better luck with food here than the U.S. Pretty much every meal in Costa Rica consists of beans, rice, and vegetables which is an excellent, well-rounded meal for vegetarians. They have plentyful fresh fruit and vegetables and appealing dressings to go along with them. The staff at UGA Costa Rica even went out of their way to make a vegetarian stuffing for me on Thanksgiving, which was delicious. Even if there is ever a time where there are few options for me to eat, the people here are so nice and willing to accomodate me. At Alejandro´s coffee farm, once he figured out I couldn´t eat the chicken rice, he asked his wife to make me plain rice because he wanted me to enjoy my meal just as much as the others. I really love that the Costa Rican diet revolves around balanced meals so much more than the meat-based American diet. Whereas in America, the meat is the main component of the meal and the rest of the foods are “sides”, in Costa Rica each ítem is treated as of equal value. I feel that this is a more balanced and healthy way to live and cannot wait to try and encorporate some of the native dishes into my meals back in Georgia. So much for all those emergency snacks I packed!
-Leah
