Joining a study abroad trip to Costa Rica was one of the best travelling decisions I have ever made. Costa Rica culture is impossible for me to compare with anything else. When I first got here, I thought that Costa Rica was slightly dangerous, and that it would be difficult for me to talk with anyone outside the school group. Not knowing the native language was very intimidating at first, as well as the city of San Jose. However, after the first couple of days, I was able to somewhat converse with locals and had no fear of the people or the city. The people here are actually very nice, and much more caring about others than that of the typical American. The business aspects were foreign to me at first as well, as Costa Rica’s business climate is much different than in the USA. I was lost during some of the first guest lectures, not because I was not listening, but because of how different they run their businesses. My first impressions were the fact that companies cared more about people than profits, and it was not even close to how they were prioritized.
During one of the company visits, we learned a lot about how a large global company operates in Costa Rica. They have laws in place that greatly help the average worker much better than back in America. For instance, if a company has more than 300 employees, they are legally required to hire and keep a private doctor that works on site in case of medical emergencies. Workers got hourly breaks, and access to 50 cent meals from the on-site cafeteria. This reflects how businesses prioritize the workers in their business models and creates a strong labor force that has many incentives to get a job. A cultural experience that stuck out to me was not actually planned things on a trip but happened in an Uber on my way to a trip. There was a point where I ordered an uber that fit 4 people, but we had 5 in the group. The driver came and picked us up, but instead of getting angry, he asked if he should call us a second Uber, free of charge. The 2 drivers split the pay between them, which was about 4 dollars total, and took us to where we needed to go. I asked the driver, why did he do this? It just is not economically feasible for him or the other driver to pick us up. He explained to me that the Uber’s in that area know that Costa Rica can be a little expensive, and so they always charge lower rates to help out the visitors and tourists. It was not just the 2 of them that did that, but every driver in the area. They cared more about us than they did about turning a profit. This selfless act stood out to me because they were showing such kindness, selflessness, and how these people look out for others. I do not think an occurrence like that would ever happen to me in America.
Some initial things that stood out to me when comparing the business climate of Costa Rica and the USA involved the types of stores that they had. Costa Rica is 90% small to medium size business, with big corporations like that in America only taking up 10% of all businesses. Costa Rica has much healthier competition because of the number of small businesses, and people tend to take more pride in their own products. No company had that big of a market share, and the lack of corporations buying up smaller ones gave way to many more unique options for a single item than in America. Another thing was that there were more types of stores that sold the same things. I am not talking about the actual quantity of stores here, I am saying that there is the same amount of grocery stores, but more diversity in them. There might be 5 different grocery stores here, but in America you have to choose between Walmart or Target. I believe that this is a direct byproduct of the fact that there are so many small privately owned businesses here.
Overall, this experience has been amazing. The food is fantastic, the people are relatively good and safe to talk to, and the activities are engaging. I felt like I took away a lot from this trip. My advice to anyone who decides to go is bring more dressier options than what you think you should. It gets cold in the evening as well, and the temperature drop is quite big when compared to the day. As long as you have plenty of dress options and a couple sets of warm clothes, you will be fine and have a blast in Costa Rica.
