Leave The Winter Behind. Come To Costa Rica For The Best Time Of Your Life! Past Review
By Kathryn C (Spanish and Geography, University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse) for
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: San Jose, Costa Rica
I learned so much about a completely different part of the world. My experience is unforgettable and I still get excited about talking about Costa Rica even though I've been back for 3 years. Speaking spanish is now a true passion of mine and I decided to major instead of minor in Spanish. I want to be a translator now.
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Universidad Veritas |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was less for sure! The teaching methods were similar for my non-spanish classes and my spanish classes were similar. I loved all my classes and I learned a lot! |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
My on site advisors were the people who I interacted with the most. They were young locals so they knew everything we needed to know about the the culture. Their offices were in the residencia (where a lot of people in my program lived) so it was easy to get in contact with them. We took spanish placement tests right away and the results of those tests placed us into the correct spanish classes. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I signed up to live with a host family so that I would get a richer cultural/language experience. My house was always very clean and my host mom was an excellent cook so our meals were always delicious! The house had all the amenities so I didn't have to buy anything. My neighborhood was generally safe and very close to my university (only about a 10 minute walk) I was treated like a daughter :) |
| * Food: |
I was really picky before I went to Costa Rica and my horizons expanded greatly! Before I left I didn't like seafood, beans, eggs or beef and by the time I left I liked all those things! My host mom always cooked a lot of food and always asked us if we wanted seconds. She was very good at asking if we were allergic to anything or didn't like anything. I advise trying the local sandwich guy at Veritas and definitely LAS LENITAS!! It was THE best nachos I've ever had. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We went to many festivals during our time. Make sure you go to Palmares (a festival) if you're going in the spring semester! I was also there for Easter and holy week which was pretty cool to see since people tend to be a bit more religious there than in the US and it's cool to see Catholic traditions. We also went on 4 excursions through CEA. These excursions were always a blast. We would get to see another part of the country and it was included in the price of studying abroad so it seemed like it was free. I also took some ecology classes so we went on field trips too and those were also 'free' |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
San Jose is a big city so of course there's some petty crime. As long as you're not an idiot there's no reason that anything will happen to you. Don't walk around alone at night. Don't carry expensive things on you at night. There were some mild colds that people got and there was a pharmacy right down the street from my house so we had easy access to medicine |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Since breakfast and dinner were included the only meals we had to pay for was lunch. Lunch was easily only about 5$. My roommates and I would also take trips to a grocery store every once and a while to buy snacks. Buying local products is way cheaper than American brands. And fruit is cheap there. Bananas literally cost pennies. Nightlife is also way cheaper than in the states (and in my opinion, more fun too!) |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | BUYING LOCAL IS MUCH CHEAPER! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I went as a sophomore so my last course was Spanish 304 which is technically a junior level course |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I lived with a host mom and she didn't speak English so I was forced to speak spanish at home all the time. My spanish professors didn't speak much English either. All the staff at the universidad encouraged us to speak spanish. We never spoke English with locals. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | People who enjoy nature will love this program. There are tons of state parks and there is so much natural diversity. There are tall mountains, rainforests, cloud forests, temperate forests, volcanoes, waterfalls, and more beautiful beaches than I've ever seen. Obviously spanish speakers will benefit from this program but even people who don't have a strong spanish background will have a fantastic time. I know a few people from my program who decided to minor/major in spanish upon their return to the US |
