Semana 2

View of San José from the top of the National Museum

This week was busy with schoolwork, three presentations and an exam. Since I  am only here for a month and am taking 6 credits, a lot of the material is condensed and there is homework almost every day. Having class four hours straight in Spanish is exhausting; however, I am learning a lot! Most of the week days I am really tired because I wake up at 6:30am and have class most of the day. Every few days I go through a cycle of: enjoying being here studying Spanish and learning the culture, being tired of classes and homework, homesickness, excitement to do something new, and looking forward to the weekend trips. I have talked with my other friends here and discovered they feel very similar, so I would define this cycle as the "culture shock" for us.

Daily life in a tico home: 
Everyday, I wake up at 6:30 and shower. My Mama Tica has a helper, Lucy, who comes to the house everyday to make us breakfast and clean the house. Around 7:30 I eat breakfast, which usually consists of fruit, coffee, toast, pancakes, or a cheese empanada, and walk to school. Then, I have class from 8-12. While I am in class, my Mama Tica usually runs errands or meets with friends, while Lucy cleans the house and does laundry. After class, I go to lunch with my friends at different local restaurants. After, I either have class from 3-5 or have an activity/tour planned through my program or the university. When I get home around 5:30, Lucy has gone home for the night, and my Mama Tica is preparing dinner for Jess and I. We eat dinner as a family and talk about our day and other topics about the culture and our lives only in Spanish. After dinner, I usually spend the night working on homework, relaxing, and watching  t.v. Sometimes, we go out with friends. My Mama Tica goes to bed around 8:30 every day and because I am so tired, I normally am sleeping by 11.

On Wednesday, I went on an art tour through my university in downtown San José. We visited three different museums, the Jade Museum, the Gold Museum, and the National Museum. The National Museum of Costa Rica was my favorite because it used to be the main military fort of the country and still had some of the features from many years ago. The Gold and Jade Museums had many artifacts, fossils, and items from the indigenous people of the past. I am usually not a huge fan of museums; however, it was really interesting to learn about the past of another country, see their statues and artwork, and how the past has shaped the country today. Below are some pictures from the museums:

Jade Museum

Artwork from the Jade Museum

Artifacts from the Gold Musum

Grave in the Gold Museum

Jail cell used during the civil war in Costa Rica in the National Museum

This weekend, I am going to La Fortuna in San Carlos with AIFS, my study abroad program, to see the Arenal Volcano, enjoy the hot springs, and swim next to a waterfall. I am excited to have a break from school, leave San José, and explore more of the natural beauty of Costa Rica!

Las Diferencias en la Educación Entre los Estados Unidos y Costa Rica

Grand Valley State University 

Universidad Veritas

After taking classes in Costa Rica for the past two weeks, I have realized that there are many differences between universities in the United States and Costa Rica that I did not expect. Universidad Veritas, my university in Costa Rica is much smaller than Grand Valley and is a private university that aside from the international students program, only has a few majors, mostly design, fashion, and architecture related. College is much more expensive in the United States than here, and public universities are free for Costa Rican students. Education is high priority in both countries. 

Veritas consists of a few main buildings, all located in the same area. There are no dorms at this university, a huge difference from the U.S., and instead, students live at home or with host families. It is a very different experience living with a family instead of in a dorm, apartment, or house with friends. For my month abroad, I enjoy living with my host mom because it helps me practice Spanish and understand the culture (also breakfast and dinner are cooked for me and my host mom does my laundry); however, throughout my four years of college, I would want to live on my own with friends like I do at home. 

The professors teaching styles are much different here than in the United States. First of all, speaking with them and in class only in Spanish is a huge change, but is very beneficial. In Costa Rica, it is considered "tico* time," which means that people are usually running late. My classes do not actually start until 10 minutes or so after they are supposed to. The lifestyle here is much more relaxed and not rushed, which is a nice change. We also have a half-hour break during our four hour class to relax, eat, and talk with our friends and ticos. My professors have been more lenient and open about the structure with presentations and assignments than at home; we are often allowed to present how we want and complete an assignment in our interpretation. There are rarely handouts with complete instructions or rubrics given out. Since we are studying the language, talking is the main focus in class and homework assignments, rather than written work. We spend most of the class period talking and reading aloud, instead of the teacher lecturing or doing individual work. 

I enjoy that we spend most of our class period in Costa Rica talking and working on pronunciation. Since there is only 3 of us in my class, it is easy to receive quick feedback and make changes. In the United States, class sizes are much larger and lecture based, which makes it difficult to work on pronunciation and fluidity (something that is very important when communicating with native speakers). I didn't realize how many letters and words that I pronounced wrong before taking my class abroad. I would like to see more of an emphasis on speaking in college classes in the U.S. On the other hand, I appreciate the structure of Spanish classes in the United States more. As someone who is detailed-oriented, it was difficult for me to complete assignments and projects without a rubric or set guidelines. Both styles of teaching have their positives and negatives, and I am thankful I have had the opportunity to learn both ways.

*A tico is a native Costa Rican person

El Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio

Jess and I representing GVSU at the beach in Manual Antonio National Park.

Smoothies at the Croc Bridge.

This weekend, I went to the Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica with my AIFS study abroad program. It was a relaxing weekend and was nice to get out of San Jose to see the beauty of Costa Rica. It was about a four hour car ride from San Jose to Quepos. On the way, we stopped at the "Croc Bridge" to see many crocodiles in the river below and have a delicious smoothie. It was a little scary to look over the bridge and see so many crocodiles below you.

The plane in the restaurant, El Avion.

After we arrived in Quepos, we checked into our beach front hotel, Kahare and went out to dinner at a restaurant called El Avion. The restaurant was one of the coolest places I have eaten; it was built from an actual plane that you can go in and overlooks the ocean. The food was also great; I had chicken and rice and a coconut flan dessert.

My group through AIFS at the national park beach.

On Saturday, we traveled to Manual Antonio National Park. The park had many different animals that we saw with the help of our guide, such as sloths, three different types of monkeys, birds, lizards, crabs, and raccoon. The monkeys were my favorite because they weren't afraid to be close to humans; however, you have to be careful because the monkeys are known for stealing food and peoples' belongings. There were also many different kinds of trees, and one of the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen. After exploring and watching animals, we were able to relax on the beach and swim in the ocean. The park was amazing, and is a place everyone needs to visit in their lifetime. Below are some pictures from the park:

On Sunday we spent the morning swimming in the ocean and hotel pool and then, returned to San Jose. This weekend was an unforgettable experience and recharged me for this next week of Spanish classes.