EXPERIENCES
“Costa Rica Through My Eyes”
Costa Rica Trough My Eyes
Before coming to Costa Rica, I was very scared because I couldn‘t speak spanish very well and the rumors that I heard about costarican people being so kind and welcoming seemed too good to be true. However, when you finally come here, you will be welcomed with the biggest smiles, hugs and love. Everything that I had heard about the costarican people was actually true and even though my spanish was very bad, everyone still tried their best to talk to me and help me.
After not even two weeks, I already felt like I was at home. I made incredibly good friends and my host family is like a second family to me. Even though I am not religious, I still participated in going to the church etc. with them and it was very interesting. The majority of people here in Costa Rica are Christian which I believe gives them a bond. Everyone here is very friendly and when you walk through the streets, people will randomly just greet or stop and talk to you, even though you don’t know them. Since the first day I came here, I believe the people in Costa Rica carry a lot of love and happiness in their hearts.
When I was with my family on a trip to see turtles, my father asked me how I would describe Costa Rica with only one word. My response was „green“ and it really fits perfectly because Costa Rica’s nature is just unbelievable. The beaches, national parks, rivers and volcanoes are truly breathtaking and even though you may have seen them many times on the internet, seeing them in person will still make you speechless. There are also many animals, foods and traditions that you can only see here.
In the end, these many factors together about Costa Rica, like the food, people, culture, nature, and love, are what makes this country so unique and special.
Costa Rica will forever now have a special place in my heart and if you are open-minded and ready for an unforgettable year, I truly recommend you doing an exchange year in Costa Rica!
Costa Rica Trough My Eyes
Since the first time I heard about the opportunity of doing an exchange year, I knew I wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country. While reading about Costa Rica, I absolutely fell in love with it. Every piece of information I learned positive – in my mind Costa Rica was a place filled with lots of love, laughter, and happiness.
When I travelled abroad, the first thing I noticed was the friendliness of the people. Every single person I met welcomed me with open arms, and a gentle curiosity. They all helped me learning Spanish, and patiently explained whatever it was I did not understand. Above all my host family treated me as a part of their family from day one – and to this day my host mother sees me as a child of her own.
Family is a very important – if not the most important thing – in Costa Rica. Most of the weekends are spent with the extended family; and even the little things – such as going to the supermarket, or watching a football game – is made into a family gathering. The families here are certainly bigger than the ones I was used to: my host siblings couldn’t even count all their cousins [they told me that they probably had about sixty, seventy cousins]. Nevertheless, I enjoyed getting know a small part of my enormous host family. I spent many moments sitting on plastic chairs, watching a football game, while drinking, eating, and laughing with my family.
However, even though family here is a top priority, my host family never once obliged me to come with them. Whenever I asked if I could do something with a friend instead, they allowed me to go. That being said, I definitely would say that many members of the host family quickly became my friends, and thus almost all my Sundays – sometimes Fridays and Saturdays as well – were spent with my host family.
My host family was definitely the best family I could have wished for. They showed me a lot of beautiful places here in Costa Rica: the mountains as well as the beaches. I fell in love with every single corner they took me to. Costa Rica is filled with a beautiful flora and fauna, and even more beautiful people.
Costa Rica Trough My Eyes
Since I’ve been a little girl I’ve always wanted to study abroad. Last year I made the decision to go on exchange the following year and I’m glad to say it was the best decision of my life.
I chose Costa Rica because I watched a lot of videos on it and many people said that it’s a very safe country, that they don’t really have an accent and that the nature is beautiful. On July 25th I left my family and friends in my home country.
When I came to Costa Rica, I noticed that the majority of the things people said about Costa Rica in the videos I had watched were true: the beautiful beaches, the gallo pinto (traditional breakfast made of rice and beans), the biodiversity, the friendly people who love to dance and a lot more. My host family received me with so much love and soon I became a new member to the family. I had 2 host brothers and 1 host sisters. My host sister is the best person I’ve met on exchange. We have such an amazing bond and she has helped me a lot when I was sad or homesick. I’ve definitely had my struggles with homesickness but I don’t regret going on exchange at all. I went to a lot of beaches, which are the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. I really fell in love with the breathtaking nature of Costa Rica.
The people of Costa Rica love to dance, sing and talk. They are very “Pura Vida” as they would say and they’re also very loving. Family is the most important thing to Costa Ricans and I’ve grown so much through this experience because of experiencing another culture. The families spend a lot of time together instead of going out or hanging out with friends, which I was used to in my home country Austria. They are also very religious people and the majority is Christian.
The food of Costa Rica is also very yummy. They eat rice and beans almost every day but I honestly love it. The “gallo pinto” with salsa lizano which I mentioned earlier is one of my favorite dishes and it’s their traditional breakfast. Another one of my favorite Costa Rican dishes is “plátanos maduros con queso” (plantains with cheese). I will miss it so much! I can recommend going to Costa Rica to everyone who is open to experiencing a new way of living and wants to go on an adventure. This beautiful country in the heart of Central America, with the happiest people of the world, has become my second home and I can’t wait to go back and visit. Pura Vida!
Costa Rica Through My Eyes
I arrived in Costa Rica the 20th of July 2017 and will stay here for 10 months. I feel like this year has been amazing and that I am very lucky to experience this. The biggest factors shaping my time here are my classmates, my family, the town I live in and the culture. To me the organisation has been great as well.
My school I go to is a technical high school. There everyone has a speciality they have to study and they are different depending on the schools. It’s really nice because you get to learn things you might not have learned otherwise. I for instance have studied architecture here and after finding out more about this topic I feel like I could maybe study this in university and become an architect And besides studying in school here you get to spend a lot of time with ticos. I have friends in all ages and everyone is really nice to me. Whenever I am alone I can always start a conversation with other people in school. It used to be hard because I wasn’t very good at Spanish but thankfully they helped me learn Spanish quickly and were patient when I couldn’t say things easily. They also could speak some English and could give me translations.
Some of the people I have gotten to know in school are talking about coming to visit me in my country and I am super excited! When I leave school I get to come home to my family. I have 4 brothers and one sister here and we are really close. When I came they brought me the very first evening to watch a soccer match in the town center and that is one memory that I will never forget. The morning after my sister and some cousins took me to a local river to go swimming and it was amazing! I could see 2 meters down into the water! In my experience the Costa Rican family is very united and make sure to meet up often. We eat breakfast every Sunday at the grandparents house with all uncles, aunts and cousins. It’s really nice. And during the week we are all still very close. If you need something you oftentimes ask your family first. The one that leads the house here is my host mom. She makes sure that everything is allright and keeps everything in check. We all help out in cleaning, cooking and dishes but since we are so many it doesn’t become too much work.
My family is religious but I feel like I have no expectations on me to believe. The holidays are more religious and they often go to mass in the church but I only go if I want to. It’s really interesting for me to see their perspective on religion and they really have given me insight into religious life. One of my uncles here has studied theology and taught me a lot about the religious history of Latin America.
I live with my family in a small village on the side of a mountain. I take the bus to school everyday. My village has about 300 habitants which makes you know almost everyone a little. When I walk through the village people always say hi to me. My brother introduced me to the other people my age here and we hang out a lot as well. We watch movies, play board games, make bonfires or go watching the stars.
My town is very safe. We never lock the door. It’s so nice to not worry about those things. I’ve heard people say negative things about the safety of Costa Rica but honestly my experience has been great. People say the capital is more dangerous but even when I have been there I feel fine. What people tell me is to just not go into “bad parts” of San José and not be out in night alone.
One of the most amazing things about my village is that we live so close to the forest. In this forest it’s pretty calm but those that spend enough time in it can see monkeys sometimes! I’ve seen only one yet but in other places I’ve seen more. Monkeys where I live are not used to humans and when you get to see them it is really amazing!
The last important thing for the year has been the tico culture. Here everyone treats me like a guest and makes sure that I feel good. Whenever I need help people help me. You really get to learn a different way of life with less stress and worries. It’s best summarized with the popular words “Pura Vida”. It’s really nice to not worry about things the way I did back home! I also need to say that the organization was great all the year. They have been able to direct me to help when I have needed it and thanks to their good work of finding this family. They are after all the ones that found me this school and family. Also they have brought me to places in Costa Rica that my family haven’t been able to show me. I also went with them to Nicaragua which was amazing.
If you reading can you should come to Costa Rica, even if it’s for a vacation it’s worth it. I came for the nature and beaches and fell in love with the people here. Thank you
Costa Rica through my eyes
Beautiful beaches, palm trees, beans, coffee and bananas. These are some things that might come to your mind when you think of Costa Rica. In fact, all this represents Costa Rica pretty well but there is actually so much more to discover, especially when you are living there and not just travel around as a tourist.
The stunning nature in Costa Rica doesn’t only include pretty beaches but also beautiful rain forests, volcanos, waterfalls, exotic animals and plants, huge banana and pineapple plantations, rivers with crocodiles and a lot more. I’ve got to see so many animals that I had never or only seen in a zoo before and it is amazing seeing them in their natural habitat.
Because the costarican people are very proud of their home, your host family will most probably take you on trips around the country to see all the attractions and will show you a couple of places that tourists don’t even know about. The people in Costa Rica are really nice and welcoming.
They will help you learn Spanish, tell you about their culture and make you feel part of their family. Costarican families are usually really big and united. They are visiting each other all the time so you are never alone and the house is always full of people. You spend a lot of time with them talking and laughing and they explain and tell you a lot about Costa Rica and its culture. They also have a lot of “insider” information that you would never find out as a tourist which I personally think is really cool. And they want to know a lot about your own culture and country, too. Many people here have never traveled to another country and so they are very interested in other customs and traditions.
Costa Rica is a very traditional country, not like many countries in Europe, where a lot of nationalities come together and mix up the cultures. They mostly eat their traditional food which often contains things you might have never seen or eaten before which I think is really exciting.
But one thing you will probably eat at least once a day is rice. They eat it with absolutely everything, not important if it’s soup, potatoes or noodles.
One thing you will love are all the fresh fruits that you can buy here. Bananas, papayas, mangos, pineapples and many more are produced in Costa Rica and taste a hundred times better than in Europe.
Almost everyone in Costa Rica is religious and goes to church. If you are religious too, I’m sure that you can learn a lot more about your faith here and practice it more often. If you are not religious, just like me, you might have a hard time in the beginning getting used to participate in activities like going to church but after some time you will get used to it and the people here are usually really tolerant of different beliefs and won’t force you to anything.
Over all I can say that I had an amazing year here in Costa Rica, learned a lot of new things and got to know many amazing people.
My host family really is like a second family to me and I am glad they showed me so much of their beautiful country.
If you are an open-minded person and willing to mix up your usual everyday life by living in a country that is totally different from your own, you will love Costa Rica!