After spending 2 weeks in Costa Rica, I learned more about the culture and business than I ever thought possible! The people of Costa Rica couldn’t be more welcoming, opening up their homes for students to embrace the true Spanish-speaking culture. The first few days of the study abroad were an interesting experience trying to adjust to the culture shock of arriving in a new country and staying with a host family. During this time we enjoyed delicious Costa Rican fruits and learned 4 dance rhythms to start the study abroad off. The next few days entailed a trip to La Fortuna where we experienced natural hot springs, a zipline tour, and an eco-tourism presentation. This gave great insight into the differences between business conducted in the US and Costa Rica. It was great to see how different cultures adapted to the pandemic, as well as how to build a business from the ground up.
The remaining week of the study abroad consisted of a coffee tour, chocolate tour, toucan rescue ranch, indigenous territory trip, cooking class, and Sokko restaurant visit and presentation. The coffee tour and chocolate tour provided great insight into how to break into the global market for coffee and chocolate, despite being a small local business. The Toucan Rescue Ranch taught all about marketing, from crowdfunding campaigns to live stream videos on various platforms. The indigenous territory trip, cooking class, and Sokko restaurant visit showed various aspects of Costa Rican culture that I am excited to bring back to the US!
Overall, the Costa Rican study abroad was an amazing experience where I will have stories and memories for a lifetime! It will be exciting to use some of the knowledge I gained while abroad in my professional and personal life!