Viva la Vida

This is definitely going to be different from last year. Just looking at the google maps street view of where I'm going to live tells me that this experience is going to be completely new. Last year on my trip to Guanajuato, Mexico, houses were built on top of each other. If two people held hands and stood in the middle of the street, their hands could touch the walls of the houses on either side, no problem. There were four stop signs in the whole mountain city and no street lights. Cars weren't really common because there simply weren't many streets onto which they fit. The contrast to the photo provided by google maps is definitely evident.

Instead of a cozy town, I will be going into one with lots of breathing room. Breathing room that provides space to think. I'm glad to see that the houses still are a variety of colors, just as in Mexico. I will be living in a household with a chihuahua and two "host" siblings - one a year older than me, and one younger. My roommate's name is Julia, and we will be attending classes at the local university in, from my understanding, Spanish language and Costa Rican history. We go to school at some point after noon from Monday through Thursday and do excursions and trips over the three day weekend. We explore museums and do mini trips Monday through Thursday.

We also have a really big group this year. Last year, the list of people coming fit onto one sheet of paper, while this year it takes up two. In result, a lot of host families will be hosting three or four students instead of the regular two. A couple of the excursions that I know we will be taking involve white water rafting and zip lining. This year will be a very nature-based trip, as opposed to last years which had a lot of focus on cities.

The Costa Rica program used to take place in San Jose, but they moved it this year to Heredia. Learning Programs International (LPI) tries to keep its programs in small cities so that students will be safe and can find their way around. To my knowledge, Costa Rica as a whole has been growing, so its possible that San Jose has gotten too big or the program decided that Heredia would simply better serve their interests.

Regardless, here's to a great trip!