Adventure of a lifetime Past Review
By A student (University of Northern Iowa) - abroad from 05/08/2012 to 05/22/2012 with
University of Northern Iowa: Traveling - UNI Capstone in Costa Rica
How spoiled and wasteful our country is as a whole and we could do a lot more good to the environment if we recycled more and didn't waste so much food and other materials. It was definitely worthwhile and made me reevaluate my lifestyle choices.
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. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Extremely unorganized and some days we didn't know what we were doing until an hour or so before it happened. It would have been nice to have followed an actual schedule so we could be prepared for what was to come. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The hostels all had lots of bugs and the beds weren't comfortable at all but that's pretty much unavoidable when traveling through non tourist areas of Costa Rica on a budget. Overall you got used to it after the first couple places. |
| * Food: |
Pinto de gallo every single day so it got old really fast. The host family I stayed with also didn't have a very wide variety of food so I got really tired of it. It was nice however to experience their culture's food on a daily basis but it was also nice to get a break and go out to eat. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Everyone suffered from bug bites but there wasn't really a way to avoid that besides being more prepared with bug spray, long sleeves and long socks. |
| * Safety: |
Some of the hikes got a little dangerous but what can you expect hiking through the jungles of Costa Rica. I also didn't feel very safe while shopping along the Panama border because there were a lot of creepy guys so make sure to keep your purse/bags close to you at all times. |
| 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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| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $350 |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Everyone in Costa Rica speaks Spanish so it was a challenge at times trying to communicate with them when most of us students had no Spanish speaking background. I was fortunate enough to have taken high school Spanish and remembered quite a bit but I would recommend giving all students basic Spanish lessons before they depart because it's a huge aspect. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Intermediate high school spanish |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Make it mandatory to have Spanish lessons given at one of the pre-departure meetings because it's extremely necessary to be able to understand and communicate certain things in the Spanish language or the locals won't understand you. |
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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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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? | That we would be using Spanish speaking and comprehension skills on a daily basis so it's extremely necessary to bring a Spanish dictionary as well as practicing before leaving. |
