Costa Rica Pura Vida! Past Review
By Andrew N (Environmental Geoscience, Texas A&M University - College Station) for
The School for Field Studies / SFS: Costa Rica – Ecological Resilience Studies
A world perspective on things was definitely gained while on this program. While learning about issues at our home institutions, we get the American scope of things, while in Costa Rica we learned how to take issues from different angles which was cool. I still think America as a community is very far from living sustainably but we're taking the necessary steps in the right direction. If it's possible to live sustainably in other countries, why can't Americans?
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was fine. I would prefer the semester to be longer so they don't cram so much information in such a small amount of time and allow the students to just breath sometimes. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Yendry is amazing. She does so much for the students. I love her and miss her dearly. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The dorms should have running water for more hours in the day. It was disgusting when toilets couldn't flush and frustrating when we couldn't take showers at the end of long days doing field work. |
| * Food: |
Mayela, Rosa, and Socorro are all wonderful. I loved them all! I just wish we could have had some more various dishes. More meat! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I really enjoyed working with schools and children. Interactions with the community were great. Going to the bar and making friends was fun. I can't wait to see my friends again someday. We refereed for a volleyball game which was fun. I just wish we had more time to go and experience the community more. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Dayla took care of us all so well. A bunch of us got sick during our trip to Nicaragua, and Dayla kept it all together. She is truly wonderful. |
| 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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
The students spoke english to eachother. We spoke Spanish in our language course and to many locals. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Just make sure that your credits will transfer. The main reason I took this study abroad was because the classes substituted as many upper level classes for me. Definitely plan to stay after the semester is over and do some traveling on your own or with a few people. Go to Panama and hike volcan Baru, go hike Charripo in Costa Rica, fly to Guatamala and explore and learn different cultures. |
