Solo Rosas

Author: Caylyn Moglia

Program:  San José, Costa Rica – Study Center

¡Hola todos!

I have now been in Costa Rica for a week, and I am loving it! I am living with a host family in Santa Rosa, which is in between San José and Heredia. My family consists of my mother and father, my brothers, Kendall (18) and Santiago (5), and my sister, Ashley (15). Every Tuesday and Wednesday, I go to the Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericano to take theology classes in the evening.

After the first few days, our program director, Heidi, took a group of us to Solo Rosas. The journey there turned into an adventure in itself, since we accidentally missed a turn and went way too far up the mountain. I have learned two very useful things from this experience: first, it is totally acceptable to ask a stranger for directions, because everybody is so helpful. Second, you should probably ask multiple people to make sure you have the right directions, because ticans, known as locals, will try to help even if they aren’t completely sure how to get to where you need to go.

One of our stops to ask for directions resulted in a delicious lunch. I had arroz con carne (rice with meat), which turned out to be pork. My meal was so huge that I couldn’t even finish all of it, so I got a box to go. While we were eating, the manager asked to take our picture for Facebook, and we agreed, so at some point, my picture will show up on Flores & Café’s Facebook page.

Once we finished lunch, we made our way to Solo Rosas to see the rose garden, and it was AMAZING! The sign at the beginning told us that the garden boasts 50,000 plants with over 300 varieties of roses, some of which were created in Costa Rica.

I really wish I was able to capture a picture of the cows and a couple goats tied to trees to graze by the side of the road. Seeing these animals so close to a busy road surprised me, but it seemed to be completely normal for them, not a single animal looked at us as we passed.

¡Ciao!

-Caylyn Moglia