Profile
Female • She / Her • Bisexual
Capital City: San José
Languages:
Costa Rican Spanish | This is the most prominent of all languages spoken within the country and is a form of Central American Spanish.
Mekatelyu | Also known as Patuna, along the Atlantic coast this language is spoken in varying degrees. It is an English-based Creole language.
English | English is taught in all public and private schools, and many businesses will require it as a second language when hiring employees. It is most prevalent in tourist heavy areas, as well as in restaurants and hotels.
Maléku | One of five indigenous languages. Also known as Guatuso, it is primarily used in the north-eastern Alajuela Province.
Cabécar | One of five indigenous languages. Spoken in the Talamanca mountain range and in the Southern Pacific region. Bribri | One of five indigenous languages. Spoken on the Atlantic slope, in the Talamanca mountain range, and the south Pacific region.
Guaymi | One of five indigenous languages. Spoken in various indigenous territories to the southeast of Puntarenas Province.
Buglere | One of five indigenous languages. Also known as Bocotá, it is spoken in the same territories as Guaymi.
History:
Prior to the 16th century, Costa Rica kept primarily to herself and understood only the basic indigenous languages. After that point she fell under the rule of the Spanish and remained a colony of the empire for many years. Because she lived a great distance from the capital in Guatemala, was not allowed to trade with her Southern neighbours in Panama (under Spanish Law), and lacked resources such as gold and silver, she was poor and isolated within the region inhabited by the Spanish Empire. She grew to be rather hostile and miserable with those around her, developing something of a bad attitude to match her lonely lifestyle, and was once described as “the poorest and most miserable Spanish Colony”.
Like her Central American relatives, Costa Rica never fought against Spain to gain her independence. Though unhappy, she bore no ill-will for the greater nation and was granted her independence only after the final Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence. Following the trend of other now-free nations, she joined the First Mexican Empire, which lasted only a little more than two years. After its collapse, she became a province of the new Federal Republic of Central America, which exercised very loose control over the poor and remote province of Costa Rica. In spite of wars that raged around her, Costa Rica remained largely at peace, choosing to keep to herself rather than getting involved.
In 1838, after the Federal Republic ceased to function, Costa Rica formally withdrew and declared herself sovereign. Due to her distance from Guatemala City and the Central Plateau, Costa Rica felt little allegiance to the federal government, and set to work trying to make her life easier.
Overall she has enjoyed greater peace and stability than other nations, and has only had two periods of violence since the 19th century, one of which took place between 1917 and 1919, when General Federico Tinoco Granados ruled as a military dictator. He was subsequently overthrown and sent into exile.
In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising following a presidential election, which resulted in the Costa Rican Civil war. The war lasted 44 days and was the bloodiest event to strike Costa Rica in the 20th century. Shaken by the unnecessary deaths and deeply injured, it was decided that her military would be abolished altogether and a new constitution would be drafted. Now, ruled with democracy, Costa Rica has become one of the most stable countries in her region.
Youthful in her mannerisms and free spirit, Costa Rica appears to be in her late teens or early twenties. She is stable and progressive, constantly moving forward as one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America. Because she has seen few battles [save for one rather bloody civil war] and has had no official military since it was abolished in 1949, she retains her youthful appearance.
She has naturally tanned skin and thick, dark hair that falls in natural waves to her mid-back. Framed by thick, dark lashes, her eyes are a vibrant shade of amber, akin to warm honey. Her figure falls somewhere between bell-shaped and pear-shaped, with her hips being considerably wider than her bust.
Teresa prefers loose garments. She hates corsets of any sort, and usually runs around in brightly coloured dresses or skirts that flow around her as she moves, rather than restricting her motions. She is a fan of traditional dress, though only on special occasions.
