Being immersed in Costa Rican culture for two weeks taught me the importance of forming relationships among my peers. Throughout the trip, my group and I were given the opportunity to separate in the afternoons for free time in our city. Everyone in the group continued to get together with one another and learn about each other. I also engaged in the opportunity to converse with my host family as much as I could as well.
I am fluent in Spanish and utilized this trip to work on my comprehension and communication with my second language. Only speaking to my host family in Spanish showed how quick I was able to pick up the language again. Originally, I did a dual language program for 10 years in school to become fluent. This program showed me how important it is to learn other languages, as being able to communicate and understand not only my host family but the program providers and local Costa Ricans as well enhanced my experience greatly.
I learned a lot about doing business in both Costa Rica and other countries. While in the US the real hard part of a business is competing with other businesses, in Costa Rica the difficulties were within the initial process of starting a business as well as the many taxes that the government requires of businesses. It was also interesting to see how the government utilizes these taxes to provide better benefits to the employees of the businesses.
My initial thoughts on the program were that I would not be as immersed in the culture and language as I was. During the program, we lived in the city Heredia, which is a working area and does not have many tourists. Living in this city gave me an insight to what living in Costa Rica is actually like. I also thought I would not learn as much about the culture below the tip of the iceberg, but living with a family and visiting local businesses, while understanding Spanish, I was able to get a glimpse below the water of the true culture of Costa Rica.
