Mis Primeros Días Aquí

Leaving Charlotte!

I've been in Costa Rica for three days now, but it already feels like I've been here a week! We've been extremely busy, but it's been great! The flight here and getting through customs and navigating the airport was very easy. I spent the last first two nights in a hotel in San Jose with the other students. They are from all over and we all get along well. We bonded immediately the first night when we went out to dinner at a place called Tiquicia. It was  on a mountain and had a beautiful view of the city of San Jose. The food was delicious, and after, some ticos (the word for Costa Ricans) danced for us.

Traditional Dance

El Teatro Nacional

The next day, we toured all of San Jose. An interesting thing is that there aren't really any street names. You just have to find landmarks, which makes it very difficult for travelers to navigate. The city is very big and busy. Some of the major things we saw was the Teatro Nacional, where they have music, dance, and theater performances. It's a old building with European influence. We also went to the market, where a lot of fresh food and souvenirs are sold. There were also many churches and parks that we saw. That night, we went to a club, which was a really fun way to interact with ticos and get to know each other better. We were all ready to get out of the city though, because it was very crowded and most people spoke English to us, so we weren't getting the Spanish practice we wanted, but it was nice to kind of ease into it a little bit.

This morning, we went to a botanical garden that had a sample of all the plants in the country. It was so beautiful! Then we drove to San Joaquin de Flores to see the school and meet our host families. My host mom is very friendly and has had a lot of students in the past. One girl even came by today, and we ate lunch and went to Walmart together. (yes, there's a Walmart here. Somewhat sad.) I was very happy to unpack all my things and get settled. It's hard to speak in all Spanish, but my host mom is happy to speak slowly, tell me what the words are for things, and is patient with my limited Spanish.

This has bullet holes from the civil war.
They kept it to remind themselves that
they want peace.

I've learned a ton about the culture already. It is a very peaceful country--in fact, it was the first country in the world not to have an army. They got rid of it after a civil war in 1948. Since it is so peaceful, they have a lot of immigrants from all over. It's similar to the US in that immigrants from places like Nicaragua often take jobs that ticos won't do, but unlike the US, ticos are very welcoming to all of the immigrants. Costa Rica is also right in the middle of the American continents, so it has a unique mixture of cultures, language, and plants--some from North America and some from South America. This also makes Costa Rican Spanish less regional and more standard, so it's a good place to learn. Ticos are very conscious about the environment--even the children. There is a forest called El bosque eterno de los niños that is supported by money that children donate to maintain it. Additionally, Costa Ricans have free healthcare and education, even though it is a poor country because they place a lot of value in these things. They also value culture, so ticos that study things like music or literature are never asked what practical thing they will do with it (a little different from the US). There's a lot more, but I'll try to spread it out because this is very long already.