After a long and full two months, I suddenly realized that the semester was halfway done. What a crazy two moths it has been. If you ask me what I’ve done in Costa Rica, I’ll tell you about the weekend trips and funny stories about my host mom and how much Spanish I’ve picked up, and you might think I’ve been having a blast every second of every day. But in reality, my day to day life feels pretty ordinary. As much fun as I’ve had studying abroad, I have learned the most not from the amazing weekends on the beach or in the mountains, but from the day to day challenges of adjusting to life in a different country.

The place where we live is called the Central Valley. Costa Rica is generally mountainous, but the area surrounding San Jose (the capital city) is a large valley, where the majority of the population lives.   The geography of Costa Rica is a pretty accurate metaphor for my time here. We’ve gone out of the Central Valley for some amazing trips and breathtaking views, but the majority of my time is spent in the city, where I go to class and mind my own business. Some of those days are really hard. But just because I have had some hard times doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend studying abroad. In fact, it’s because of the hard days when I just wanted to go home and hang out with my friends and speak English that I’m glad I decided to spend four months here. The most learning happens not in the mountains but in the Valley.

For spring break last week, our group took a trip to Arenal Volcano (Volcán Arenal). It is a pretty famous tourist location, and the volcano is still active. It was a ton of fun, and we took a tour where we got to swim in a waterfall and a hot spring! When I was in the waterfall, it was one of those moments that I pictured my study abroad experience to be like. I felt like a 20-year-old risk-taking traveler and had never felt more alive. That same night the tour guides took us to a hot spring, which had the same effect. I’ve had other mountaintop experiences here too—sitting on the beach in February, hiking up a mountain, seeing a real-life sloth, and the list goes on.

Seen on our 4+ hour drive.  I will never get over how beautiful the scenery is here!

View of the volcano!

Swimming in this waterfall was both refreshing and exhilarating!

I’ve come to the conclusion that although those mountaintop experiences were incredible, the most important part of being here is the valleys. Sometimes I can’t stand speaking Spanish anymore and get frustrated with myself, but I’ll never forget the time I was at the supermarket and understood the cashier saying the price for the first time (you try saying “mil quinientos noventa y cinco” five times fast).   Learning Spanish is a long and sometimes difficult process, but this week I have started my internship at a school in the local neighborhood, and I have realized how special it is to be able to communicate with someone in their first language, even if they know some English. I never thought hanging out with a group of eleventh graders could be a highlight of my day! Not to mention endless hugs and drawings from adorable first graders 🙂

Being here at first was pretty scary. But suddenly I know how to take the bus to the city all by myself. I recognize the cashiers at the local supermarket. I could tell a taxi driver how to get to my house. One day when it was really hot and I had a lot of homework to do, the extended family spontaneously came over for coffee, which was a really fun time, and I could communicate with them pretty well! My host mom is great, but like any family member, she sometimes frustrates me, but that has taught me a lot about living with people and cultural differences.   Living everyday life and integrating myself into a family and a neighborhood has taught me more than a week of sightseeing ever could. And it’s those ordinary days that make me never want to leave.

One of my favorite parts of traveling is the food! Costa Rica has certainly given me plenty of new things to try, some of which are great…and some of which are not so great. Here’s a collection of some typical Costa Rican food I have enjoyed.

Let’s start with the morning. This is a pretty typical Costa Rican breakfast, including “gallo pinto” (gah-yo-peen-toe) – rice, beans, and vegetables mixed together. Eating rice and beans in the morning seems strange at first, but gallo pinto is really good! Other common items are eggs, bread, fruit, and of course coffee. The white block in the picture is cheese—it has sort of a spongy texture, but it tastes pretty good, and they put it on everything!

Although I don’t eat gallo pinto every day, I certainly don’t go hungry in the morning!  8/10

For lunch, the typical plate is called a “casado.” It includes rice, beans, salad, fried plantains, and sometimes beef or chicken. It’s a cheap, filling, and tasty lunch! Fun fact: In Costa Rica, lunch is considered the biggest and most important meal of the day. Quite a contrast to the U.S. where we are constantly eating lunch on the go or while working!

Lunch at the university cafeteria.  Super cheap and quite different from Founder’s!  9/10

One of the most typical dishes of Costa Rica is “arroz con pollo” (rice with chicken). They eat it so much that sometimes they substitute the word for chicken with the word for always (siempre). Hence, “arroz con siempre” (roughly translated “rice with always”). It’s one of my favorite dishes!

This dinner also included fried plantains and cucumber salad.  10/10

This is a pretty typical dinner at my house. A pork chop, white rice, beans, salad, and fried plantains. Fresh, homemade fruit drinks are also very typical—the one in the background here is pineapple—my personal favorite!

Pretty hard to go a day here without rice and beans.  8/10

A picture of a fruit drink at a restaurant in San José—“mora” (blackberry).

An upgrade from soda, I have to say.  10/10

I thought I knew what I was getting into when my friends’ host mom served us “perros calientes” (hot dogs), but it was very different than I expected! This is a hot dog with cabbage, potato chips, and a mayonnaise and ketchup sauce.  Not the best hot dog I’ve ever eaten, but it was an interesting (and messy) experience.

Not bad, but I prefer Chicago style.  7/10

Costa Rica has a lot of different fruits that we don’t have in the U.S. A few I’ve tried are granadilla, cas, and tamarin. This particular fruit is a guanabana—it has a weird texture but good flavor! (Also, the fruits that are the same are WAY better here—pineapple, bananas, melon, to name a few).

The juice is better than the fruit.  6/10

Another new fruit I’ve tried is called pejivalle. (pay-hee-vah-yay). It has the texture of a potato but a different flavor. It is typically eaten with mayonnaise. Another thing I wouldn’t eat again but am glad I tried!

We had this at breakfast a few days ago.  5/10

I love yogurt. In the States, I barely go a day without it. I was a little disappointed to find out that the only yogurt people seem to like here is in liquid form, but once I tried it, I was hooked!

It comes in a variety of flavors, but my personal favorite is “frutas tropicales” (tropical fruit).  10/10

Finally, a blog of Costa Rican food would not be complete without POPS. This ice cream/smoothie shop never fails to satisfy a craving for a cold treat on a hot day. You can find one on nearly every corner!

Strawberry smoothie = perfection.   11/10