Costa Rica: Discovering a different life! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Teaching methods for language courses very similar to typical USA course; but much more effective. Science classes were based on comprehensive knowledge instead of typical memorization like an American class. One negative was the the actaul information being taught was much to basic for anyone already in the science field. Comprehensive work was much easier to understand, to relate to and to apply to real life situation. Although some science information was too basic, the field experience gave a lot of new insight

On-site administration of your program

There was trouble in the beginning setting up courses because the system wasn't explained properly or students just found out the hard way about adding/dropping or even being enrolled in certain classes. But professors were very easy to work with if you already had a solid idea of what your question was. It was very easy for me (although I had no evidence of learning spanish through classes) to move up to a class better suited for me by proving myself and talking with the professors.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

the residence was fantastic in terms of closeness to school (1 block away from campus) and that everything was already set up for us and meals figured out ahead of time. The area was very nice as a central location to night life, downtown, campus and dining. The living environment was lacking because there was no spanish spoken among roommates, since we were all from the states there was no international exchange so it was no different than moving into the dorms at our home institutions and living habits were very different sometimes causing issues with respectful behavior,quiet hours for sleeping,cleanliness etc.

The food is amazing! Although there are many options for Chinese, McDonalds, Italian etc. It is best to go to the very small family owned restaurants (Sodas) for real local meals. They are great prices, huge portions and absolutely delicous.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

CEA provided great excursions early on in the program that were very fun and helped show us what all we could do in our time frame. The university also provided fantastic excursion (although not already paid) The big ones, Nicaragua and Panama allow students to renew visas and get to another country safely. Panama was a fantastic weekend vacation because there was a thrill factor in that the tour guy that we always relied on only brought us to the border of Costa Rica and Panama and just gave us directions on what to do next!. My science classes also provided amazing excursion. we explored rain forests and talked with small rural communities to learn about important things going on in the country.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Overall city safety was good. there was always a case of theft or mugging but if students were smart about walking around either by themselves or at night usually there wasn't any trouble. There were, though, always stories of students walking around - holding out pricey things, by themselves or just at night- that did see trouble. Health care was pretty easy. Vaccines needed were typhoid fever and the new tetanus.

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

In the residencia everyone spoke english (roommates and directors) but host language was needs for all lang classes and in everyday interactions. I practiced in class, conversation club which was with other students and a professor, and with the workers around my residencia: security guards, housekeepers and restaurant workers.

Select all that apply

• Dorm

Select all that apply

• Americans