Costa Rica: Study Abroad 2021

What exactly is a "finca?" The closest equivalent in English would be a ranch or country home. Essentially, any home that is not downtown or in the suburbs is a finca.  While studying abroad here in Costa Rica, we are staying at a finca called ABC de la Vida (the ABCs of Life) in Ciudad Colón. We all have our own bedrooms and bathrooms here, and we share a communal kitchen, dining room, and large outdoor patio space.  The bedrooms are slightly different, but all of them contain a full-sized bed; two large, open-faced bookshelves/closets, a trashcan, a fan, a full-length mirror, and some other piece of lounging furniture (a desk, chair, small sofa, etc.). Most of the bedrooms have large windows with colorful curtains, which can provide privacy when closed and fresh air when opened. One important difference here is that everything in the bedroom has a function. Unlike in the U.S., many rooms here only have the essentials for daily life. In other words, there is not a lot of art...

 So you're now in a new country and have no idea where to go or how in the world to get there. Don't worry; Costa Rica has great public transportation and opportunities to use private transportation like taxis or Ubers. Public Transportation: The city buses are the most common method of public transportation near San José. For the equivalent of about $3, you can travel from Ciudad Colón to San José, which is about 13 miles! We used the bus on the weekends to visit different places around San José, like barrio Escalante and the local mall, Multiplaza. While we usually stayed on the same one or two bus routes, there are many routes that travel all around Costa Rica, especially to tourist locations.  Traveler's Tip: Bus stops may not always look like the standard bus stops in the U.S. Keep an eye out for the words "la parada," which means "bus stop" in Spanish. Private Transportation: Private transportation is usually easier than the bus routes because it ...

 One thing that really surprised me about Costa Rica is all of the sounds of wildlife! Without the endless droning of the air conditioner, cars passing by, and planes overhead, the only sounds come from nature. I remember on my first night here, as we were driving away from the airport, we entered the countryside and were amazed to find the chirping of geckos, hooting of owls, and croaking of frog. And to complete the orchestra, the night wind whistled through the bamboo and rattled the bushes. One of the other girls commented that it was like being in Disneyland or Disney World because the scenery and sounds were so realistic.  The next morning, I was awakened to the sound of the two roosters crowing around 6:00am. While the roosters are now living with a neighbor, the first few weeks here were filled with their belting. Needless to say, if the roosters didn't wake me up, the calls of the toucans and macaws usually did! Like the wildlife, the people here in the countryside of...