Author: Katherine Germann

Location: San Jose, Costa Rica

Before coming to Costa Rica, I was super excited to expand my horizons – to see more of the world that we live in. I had never been outside of the United States, and I knew that I would get to visit Costa Rica and Nicaragua during my study abroad experience, visiting not one but two new countries. However, I was also a little afraid to cross the borders and see more of the world. I thought that after seeing more of our planet, it would seem smaller, less grand, and more confining. After all, the more you explore a house or neighborhood, the less exciting and mysterious it is. Furthermore, I could have been disappointed with what I found. Perhaps the new places would not be as culturally shocking or thought provoking as I expected. Then I would be left with the notion that all parts of the world are quite similar, and there is nothing left to discover. However, getting to see more of the world has had the exact opposite effect on me: the world seems bigger and bigger. I am plagued with the frustration that I will not be able to cover all of Costa Rica before I leave this beautiful country.

This is not to say that I have encountered startlingly exotic features in every place that I have traveled. In fact, there are many similarities between beaches in Costa Rica and beaches in the U.S., mountains in Costa Rica and mountains in the U.S., etcetera. But the richness of my travel experience is apparent when I go to a new place, explore what is unique to that area, and appreciate the beauty and excitement that I discover there.

I felt the wave of awe and appreciation for how big the world is when I visited Guanacaste with a friend from the University of Costa Rica. At this point, I had already been to Longo Mai, a beautiful, rural, immigrant community, and to Cahuita, an exciting and culturally-rich Caribbean town on the Coast of Limón, with the Valpo cohort. These two places thrived with cultural differences in the way people lived, spoke, cooked, and interacted with each other. They also had different forms of natural beauty, one offering a biodiverse beach front and the other a river hidden in the woods. I enjoyed encountering the special beauty of each place, but I didn’t reflect on what this meant until I took a more personal trip to Guanacaste. I went for a morning walk on Brasilito beach, and as I walked up the beach I watched the people, who camped on the edge of the beach, and I tried to notice all the features of the coastline. I realized, a little disappointed, that I wouldn’t have nearly enough time to walk up the entire beach. And Brasilito isn’t even the “featured” beach in Guanacaste. Playa Conchal is far more popular. Yet in its simplicity it had a lot to offer.

That’s when I sat down with a question in my head: Is the world pretty much all the same, making it seem far smaller than I would hope? I realized that it is not small at all. Every place has something unique, something special, to offer. It hit me that there is no way that I can possibly cover every place that there is to visit in Costa Rica during my time here, and there is no way that I can cover the whole world in my entire lifetime. There will always be more to discover. What an exciting realization!

Ever since then I have traveled around Costa Rica as much as I can (and into Panama and Nicaragua). Gabbi, my most frequent travel partner, made a great point. She says that there are two attitudes when it comes to travel. You can either assume that one beach is just like any other beach, that one waterfall is just like any other waterfall, and that one city is just like any other city. Or you can realize that each one offers something different, new, and exciting. The world expands dramatically when you adopt an attitude of appreciation for every new place that you visit. As Gabbi really likes water, I would like to illustrate this point by highlighting some of the waterfalls that I have visited during my stay here.

We visited la Catarata (waterfall) de la Paz, Catarata La Fortuna, and Catarata Cangrejo. To get to Cangrejo, one needs to walk about 5 kilometers through Rincon de la Vieja National Park. The journey to the waterfall is just as beautiful as the waterfall itself. The pool is a popular place for people to swim, rest and have their lunch. La Fortuna is accessible only by walking down 500 steps (which then need to be climbed again when one returns). It is a much stronger waterfall, with a deeper pool. We could swim in the pool, and the waterfall created such a strong current that one could swim and swim towards the falls and never get very close to it. Finally, one could see the Catarata de la Paz right off the side of the road. La Paz means peace, but this was the largest and most powerful of the waterfalls. There were many people taking photos, but no one could swim in that pool. It was far to grand and dangerous. Even though every site was “just” another waterfall, each waterfall offered something new and special to a traveler.

The same type of thing happened for every beach, city, or park that we visited. All the beaches in Puerto Viejo were quite close together, however they were very different. One had black sand and calm waves, while another had brown sand and crazy, dangerous waves, and still others offered beautiful rock formations or wildlife. The moral of the story is: nothing is exactly the same. There is always something new to discover, you just have to adopt an open mind to see and appreciate everything. This goes for both the differences in land and the cultures of the people. I learned that when you have an open mind, all people and all land has something special to offer. There is no way I will ever be finished exploring the world that we live in!

Gabbi at the River in Longo Mai

Road in Longo Mai

Cahuita beach

Brasilito beach

This is me on Volcán Concepcion, which is on Omatepe Island in Nicaragua. This is not mentioned in the blog, but this is yet another amazing place that I got to visit. I hiked up this Volcano, and it was very different from other mountains that I have hiked in the past. There are differences in vegetation, soil, and views.

This is my father at the Catarata La Fortuna.

Author: Hannah Purkey 

Location: San Jose, Costa Rica

As college students, we generally intern at some business, hospital, school. I personally have had two internship experiences  since coming to college. They are great opportunities to learn, grow, and truly see if you have an interest in a specific field. Although I experienced all of these things, nothing could have prepared me for my time interning in Costa Rica.

The amazing organization that I got to intern with is called Fundación Mujer (Womens Foundation). This organization itself works to contribute to the social and economic development of people in Costa Rica. They focus on working with refugees from other Central and South American countries. While interning at the foundation, I worked with a woman named Laura. She is in charge of running the education programming and development for the people wanting training. My main jobs were to assist in these education programs, help with the job fair logistics, and simply learn more about the company.

Women talking to different companies the Refugee Job Fair.

To better understand the need for this organization, I want to share a little bit about the story of immigration into Costa Rica. Immigrants make up over 10% of the population of people in Costa Rica. Since the 1960s this percentage has been continually growing. In the eyes of many Central and South Americans, Costa Rica is a secure place to be. Their economy is very stable and their government is kind to people seeking refuge. The highest number of people wanting to come into the country are from Nicaragua and Colombia. Because of the economic situation of Nicaragua, many people are coming to Costa Rica seeking work. It is in CR that they will find a lot of job availability  within domestic work/agriculture, higher wages, universal health care, and higher education standards. It is important to note that Nicaragua is a good country too. People do not want to leave their home country; but sometimes it is needed. To add on, the immigration of Colombians to Costa Rica is mostly due to people seeking refugee from the long standing Colombia Civil War. Some of these Colombians are leaving their country so they can save their own lives. Learning about the amount of refugees that live in Costa Rica has allowed me to appreciate this organization even more.

My personal experience with Fundación Mujer has been educational, eye-opening, and hard. I have learned so much from working with immigrants. I’ve gotten to hear their stories, hopes, triumphs, struggles, and dreams. In this process, I’ve learned so much about the real situations of different countries. This experience has also been eye opening because Costa Rica has a very different view on immigrants. Fundación Mujer believes they can add amazing things to the communities of Costa Rica. They are raised up, supported, and loved by this organization (and other organizations as well.) I have never seen this kind of support system for these types of people. Because of that, my eyes have been open to the resources and support these people really need. On top of all of this, everything I did with this organization was in Spanish. Although I am confident in my Spanish language abilities. I am lost at least 30% of the time. Because of this, interning here was hard, but in a good way. It pushed my language abilities to a level I never knew I could reach. All in all, this internship experience taught me a lot about the life of immigrants and what they need to be successful in a new country.

Me at one of the job fairs.

Author: Emily Nelson

Location: Hirakata, Osaka, Japan

Japan is known for its courtesy. As a student living here, there are many examples of this. Every morning when I leave the dorms, several guards are stationed out front, greeting people as they enter and exit the premises. This is less for security than it is for giving directions, but nonetheless, the human interaction is still nice. When speaking to someone who you are serving or who is of higher rank than you, more polite language, called keigo, is used. And of course, bowing is very much still alive in Japanese social customs: The lower and longer you bow, the more respect you give. As someone who has now been living in Japan for a while, I would like to share my own experience with mannerisms here, as a (kind-of) Japanese person, if you will.

Most people here are very polite, as expected. There are few instances where I’ve come across anybody disrespectful. As a country that is arguably more collectivist than the United States, Japan values social relationships and harmony more. In the past, as someone who has been very fed up by rude people back home, coming here is almost like a breath of fresh air. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to question whether this is really better. Being respectful to others is a social expectation, and therefore most people follow it likely because they don’t intrinsically want to, but because they feel they have to. How many people are genuinely happy to be so agreeable all the time? While there are certainly people who are, others are may be acting. So are relationships really valued more in a collectivist culture, or are they simply the result of social conditioning? Maybe a mix of both? It seems that to gain social harmony, Japan has given up some genuineness in the process. It appears that each society chooses what it finds more important, genuineness in more individualist cultures or harmonious relationships in those emphasizing collectivism.

Seen at 7-Eleven. Japan really knows how to market to people.

I’ve alluded before to my appearance, or looking native enough to be addressed in Japanese. While I appreciate this, as it gives me the chance to practice speaking, it also sets off some minor alarm bells in my head, and not just because I don’t know how to say a lot of things. But why, you may ask? I had to ask myself the same. This is what I determined: Because I appear to be Japanese, it is expected that I adhere to the social rules and present like a citizen of this country, which holds more collectivist than individualist values. However, that’s not accurate of myself, as I’ve been removed from my country of origin for many years now, living in an area that encourages personal achievement more. This study abroad trip is the longest I’ve ever spent in Japan, and the first time on my own. As a result, I feel a constant social pressure to be more Japanese, and therefore more socially acceptable, even though my appearance does not match my experience. This was brought to my attention by a friend, who stated that I seemed too concerned about rules here. I think, however, that we’re all concerned about rules, it just depends on which type of culture we grow up in and our relations to them. Nonetheless, I do agree that I am overly concerned, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this!

Regardless of my opinion on these topics, I think that this is certainly a testament to the benefits of studying abroad. It certainly helps one understand their place in the world and how their home has shaped them. In a new place, one’s upbringing stands out clearly and invites more understanding to one’s identity as they adapt. I hope this helped you understand differences in perspective as much as it did for myself.

Cherry Blossoms!

Disclaimer: This writing is influenced by a work I am reading in psychology class called Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov. The interpretations I present are in part due to me learning about individualism/collectivism in this book.

Author: Hannah Purkey 

Location: San Jose, Costa Rica

I have gotten a lot of questions about what a typical day in Costa Rica is like. Fair question right? After three months, one would think I could answer this question with ease. The truth is it differs every day. The structure of my semester has been very different than anything I have experienced in Valpo. Here’s a glimpse of what my day looks like!

Costa Rica Part One:

The first months of my time in Costa Rica were based more around a typical class schedule. My days went something like this:

6:00 A.M.  – Wake up to the warm sun shining on my face and get ready

6:34 A.M. –  Start riding my bike to the train stop (I had this down to a T)

6:43ish A.M. – Get on the train to go to the University of Costa Rica (transportation here runs on Tico time, that means the nonchalant attitude Costa Ricans (Tico’s) have about being (not) on time.)

8:00 A.M. – 1:00 PM Spanish Classes. We were in very small Spanish classes with people from all over the world!

A picture of everyone in my Spanish Grammar class!

1:00-3:00 P.M. – Eat lunch and go back to Santa Rosa (the neighborhood where the program is based)

3:00-5:00 P.M. – History of Costa Rica class or hangout with our host family time (depending on the day)

I always look forward to spending time with my host sisters!

5:00-9:00 P.M. – Homework, dinner, and more family time.

9:30 P.M. – Bedtime! I go to bed much earlier here than I did at Valpo!

This was more or less my weekly schedule before Spring break. The second awesome part about this study abroad program is you get to do an internship! The following is what my schedule has looked like since Spring Break.

Costa Rica Part Two:

7:00 A.M. – Wake up, get ready, and catch the train!

8:30 A.M. – Arrive at Fundacion Mujer (the place where I am interning.)

8:30-1:00 P.M. – Help out with data input, talk to refugees, assist in workshops, and more!

Kyra and I after our first day!

1:00 – 2:00 P.M. – Eat lunch with co-workers. This has been some of my favorite moments at my internship site so far! I love learning and hearing about people’s work and lives here!

2:00 – 4:00 P.M. – Head home or work more (depending on the day.)

4:00 – 9:00 P.M. – Spend time with my host family, dinner, homework, and more.

9:00ish P.M. – Bedtime once again!

Here’s a quick note about Tico Time: Costa Ricans run on a different kind of time system. Sometimes things take twice as long and sometimes they take no time at all. And it is all NO big deal. People do not worry much about time which makes mandated time grids (like above) hard to follow.

These are rough outlines of what my time has looked like here in Costa Rica. Everyday is very different, but each day is full of lots of learning and growing!

Author: Zoe Henkes

Location: San Jose, Costa Rica

You’ll probably hear this from anyone who has spent a semester abroad, but it’s so true—the time goes by so quickly.  One day you’re arriving, overwhelmed by so many new people and customs, and the next, you’re leaving the new family and friends that you’ve grown to know and love.  However, that is one of the beautiful things about study abroad as well.  You get to share the culture of your host country with that of your native country.

One of the first things you should know about Costa Rican culture is what is known as “tico time.”  This phrase refers to Costa Ricans’ (ticos) tendency to lose track of time.  A few phrases you might hear include “tranquilo” and “suave,” which are synonyms meaning something along the lines of “chill” and “easy.” In the same sense, Costa Ricans spend a lot of time on greetings and goodbyes.  For example, if you are having coffee with a friend, even if you are getting up to say goodbye, you could be there for another 30 minutes chatting.  Since being back in the United States, I feel that I am more calm and relaxed about my schedule.  This could be just the fact that it’s winter break and I don’t have schoolwork to worry about anymore, but I also definitely cannot discount the tico lifestyle that I lived for the past few months.

Next, one of my favorite customs from Costa Rica was afternoon coffee time.  Around 3 or 4 o’clock on most afternoons, Costa Ricans gather in the kitchen for afternoon coffee.  The coffee was always excellent—it was made with a traditional Costa Rican coffee maker known as a Chorreador.  The coffee was always so smooth, and my host mom always added the perfect amount of cream and sugar.  In addition, there were always rich breads, pastries, or cakes to go along with the coffee.  Then, we’d all enjoy our coffee together with family and friends alike.  Overall, it was such an amazing time of fellowship and tradition which I’d like to incorporate more in my time with my family in the United States.  

Lastly, I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoyed the food in Costa Rica.  A few new vegetables that I tried were “chayote,” which can be described as a cross between a celery and a potato, and “yuca,” which is like a very dense, starchy potato.  An interesting fruit that I tried is called “granadilla,” which is sort of like a pomegranate, as the seeds are coated with a jelly-like sac, but it has a tarter taste.  Furthermore, there were plenty of meals containing beans and rice, but there were also different varieties of soups, pastas, fried chicken, and more.  However, one of my favorite meals is called “gallo pinto,” translated to spotted rooster.  This is a very simple, yet traditional dish eaten in both Costa Rica and Nicaragua that is made of beans and rice.  In Costa Rica, it is usually eaten for breakfast, alongside with a scrambled or fried egg.  Another dish I really enjoyed was a dessert called “arroz con leche,” the same thing as rice pudding, and is best-served warm.  My host mom graciously shared with me the recipes of both gallo pinto and arroz con leche, so I will attempt to make them both for my U.S. family over the break!

In the end, while it is so great to finally be home in the U.S., I realize more and more the things that I miss from my time abroad.  My host family was so kind and welcoming to me and really did an amazing job of engaging me in Costa Rican culture.  Now, I have the privilege of sharing that culture with my family and friends at home.