Blog #4: Poás Volcano and More

Hola chicos –

I’ve been incredibly busy touring around Costa Rica and finally had a few moments to actually sit down to write this blog entry. Since a couple weeks have passed, I will catch you all up on what happened two weeks, and then update you all my adventures of this last week!

Week #2: 1/15 – 1/22

Two weeks ago was my second full week in Costa Rica, and I started to feel more adjusted to my life here in Costa Rica. I’ve gotten more used to talking in Spanish everyday with my host family, know my way around the neighborhood/campus, and genuinely feel like I’ve made some friends here.

One aspect of life in Costa Rica that I’ve been adjusting to is having to be much more mindful of safety, particularly theft. Our program (and school) repeatedly emphasize that at night, we shouldn’t walk outside at all. They also tell us that we shouldn’t walk with computers (or any other valuables), and that we should limit the amount of cash we carry. One day during this past week, our office building was robbed overnight, where food and valuables were stolen. That same day I learned about the robbery,  I was approached by a man as I was leaving my homestay. He got uncomfortably close to me and began talking (and slurring) his words so that I couldn’t understand him. I quickly went back into the gates of my homestay, said I couldn’t speak Spanish, and he then left me alone.

To be clear: I’ve never felt unsafe at any point during my time here. Moreover, I have several resources to call if I feel unsafe at any point. However, my point in saying all of this is that it’s definitely taken me a little bit to adjust to the difference in safety. Back at St. Olaf, I could leave my laptop (and backpack) practically anywhere on campus for hours and return to find it exactly where I left it. Our mailboxes at school (that we share with another random student) don’t even have locks on them. As you can probably imagine, it’s taken me some time acclimating as I live in a bigger city.

And with all of that said, I’ve felt extremely lucky for the people and experiences I’ve had so far. My program advisors (Karla and Jessenia) are both delights to chat with. I’ve had several 1+ hour conversations with both of them, and they help me practice my Spanish.

I also love AIFS – the company that I chose to study abroad with – as they have been nothing but support during my time here. They also made sure to plan some well-thought-out excursions of the area, as I write about below.

Saturday (1/21/22)

Today, we had an all-day adventure visiting several different locations across Alajuela, one of the seven provinces in Costa Rica. Our first stop was Poás Volcano National Park – a beautiful place with lush forests, (supposedly) beautiful views and very, very, very sunny weather.

For reference, this is what we were hoping to see:

In all seriousness though, it was still wonderful walking through the National Park. While it was extremely foggy and we couldn’t actually see the volcano, the forests we trekked through were absolutely breathtaking. The fog and clouds made it seem like I was walking through an enchanted forest that’s always shown in cartoons.

As you can probably tell, I was completely enamored with the beauty of this forest and it more than made up for our inability to see the volcano. I already miss this National Park and might have to return back to experience this forest again (and to hopefully see the volcano!).

After visiting the National Park, we then visited a coffee plantation and saw a coffee farm! We learned about how coffee is made in Costa Rica got to see the machinery used to produce coffee. At the end, we even were able to try some freshly-made coffee… unsurprisingly, it was one of the most delicious coffee I’ve ever tasted.

We then continued our day-adventure visiting Grecia, a small town with a very historical building: the Church of la Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes. This church is made completely out of metal – one of the only ones in Central America. The metal was actually from Belgium and, as stories say, the pieces were meant to go to Chile, but wound up in Costa Rica instead.

From Grecia, we made our last stop in Sarchi, another small town that is known for its beautiful, ornate designs for ox carts.

We then visited an artisan factory, where they showed us how that ox cart was made:

After having some time to shop for souvenirs, we headed back to San Jose after a long but fun day traveling around.

Last week:

I can safely say now that I feel much more settled here in Costa Rica. I’ve developed (somewhat) a routine of having my daily breakfasts, heading to Veritas to take my classes, and have a more grounded sense of where I am and what I’m doing. I still am fascinated by my host family’s hospitality and genuine warmth that they’ve shown around me.

I will wrap up this blog entry here. I went to La Fortuna and Monteverde this past weekend, which will get it’s own entire blog entry and I have so much to share. I will hopefully post that blog entry within the next couple of days. Until next time, ¡pura vida!