Impressions of Costa Rica – Wyatt Logan

My first impressions of Costa Rica are that the people here value their happiness above mostly everything else. Every day we hear people saying ?pura vida!? (pure life) back and forth, which is a sort-of mantra for the country. Happiness to Ticos means a simple, pure life, and it shows in the ways that they appreciate what they have, live well, and eat clean and healthy food.

I?ve been abroad several times, but the culture shock in Costa Rica hit me like a baseball bat. At this point I?m starting to get used to it, and it?s becoming easier to see the appeal of living here. Living with a host mother has made it more intense, especially because she doesn?t speak any English and my Spanish is broken at best, though we are still able to communicate through what little Spanish I know and with the help of one of my roommates who is fluent.

Costa Rica is also a visually beautiful country. In our first week, we?ve been on an excursion out of Heredia to La Fortuna around the Arenal volcano. We made a stop in the mountains to zip-line through the forest. Sliding down a cable hundreds of feet in the air allowed us to enjoy the views of the rainforest valley below. When we arrived at the volcano, we were surprised by the sheer size of it. Photos would not do it justice; it stretched well above the clouds. Just about everywhere else in the country you could be treated with views of clouds rolling down mountains, rainforests, and streams.

All of this being said, I still would have been more hesitant to sign up had I known a few details about the trip. Heredia, the suburb we are staying in, is apparently a dangerous area that is not used to foreigners, according to locals that approached us on the street on our first night. The infrastructure of the country also leaves something to be desired. The lack of road signs, including stop signs and traffic lights, makes getting around confusing and dangerous. Being run over by a car is a more real threat than it has ever been for us. I can?t help but be afraid that if one of us were to get seriously sick or injured, the medical care here may not be to the same standard we have in the United States.