Costa Rica: Pura Vida mae Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Universidad Veritas had an amazing set of teachers and courses! I absolutely loved the 2 semesters I spent in San Jose. The Spanish classes had the most course work but were fun and you learn so much. The other courses offer a different perspective on education as well. The classes were fairly easy and interactive. The education I received is priceless, I know it sounds cheesy but it's true. The university was filled with international students as well as the locals (ticos), and the lunch menus were BOMB!

On-site administration of your program

The girls who ran CEA in Costa Rica were amazing!!!!! I still stay in contact with them and they are always there to help with any question that might come up. They are very familiar with Costa Rica and all it has to offer. they also are super friendly and planned cool "social" things we did once a month where CEA pays for it. their offices are in the housing and very accessible.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The first semester I lived in the student housing, which is like a huge real world house with 14 other students, the CEA offices. We had it made living there!! there were maids that cooked us breakfast every weekday, cleaned our rooms once a week and laundry facilities were on site. A easy 5 minute walk around the corner was the university. One thing that was not so helpful living in the housing is that you rarely practice your spanish because your living with all other students wo speak english but its super fun. the second semester I moved in with a host family who was amazing. the little boys sometimes got annoying but i loved living there. they took us in right away as family and we had delicous breakfasts and dinners every day of the week. the family also had a dog. This was situated a little bit further from campus, but only by a 15 minute walk, but there was also a shuttle service the university provides to and from campus. Also living with a host family that does not speak english was extremely helpful in language development.

Yummy Yummy food!!!!!!!!! one thing i miss soooooo much. the array of delicious tropical fruits and the comida tipica. Oh and for late night muchies, ticoburgesa! lol. food was about the same price for a meal here in the US. ATTENTION: not tips required, its included 10% in the price of the food already =] lots of fresh fish and fried chicken everywhere.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I would recommend making friends with locals. they are soooo nice and most speak english too! Becoming friends with locals and the experiences i had with them are some of my most memorable, plus the fact you get to truly start to feel like an insider instead of a tourist. You get the true cultural experience. the trips that CEA provides are super fun too especially because everything is already paid for. Power outages, blackouts and long, curvy, narrow roads become the norm. i would also recommend heading don to panama either to panama city, which is simply amazing or to Bocas Del Toro, a little island chain in the Caribbean in the northern part of panama, barley an hour south of the border. If you go to Bocas del Toro, ry to stay at Aqua Lounge, the best hostel there, with great parties and hott staff=]

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Some people in my program did get robbed or taken advantage of but its just about being smart and not putting yourself in a situation where that can happen. dont walk alone, dont walk at night and dont by drugs from a random person off the street, they will take your money and run. personally i never, in my 7 months there, ran into any problems. you just have to be aware of your surroundings but dont be paranoid. the driving in Costa Rica is very hectic and there's always lots of traffic, if your a pedestrian WATCH OUT! The hospital was good. i had to go because i got a flu type of thing and it was protocol because of H1N1. i also ended up breaking my ankle half way through my trip and the doctors took my x=rays but didnt examine them very thoroughly because they said i was fine, i just sprained my ankle, when in fact i shattered it...so that wasnt so good. but the doctors here somehow missed it too...so that goes to show you how our health care is here! anyways overall there were no main health issues and i had the time of my life.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

You were not actually required to take a language course but it was highly recommended and you could also assess out of any language course.

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• Apartment
• Host Family

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• Host Family
• Americans