Study Abroad Costa Rica

September 14: Poas Volcano On Saturday, my friends and I went to Poas Volcano. This is currently the most active volcano in Costa Rica. It is 2700 meters tall and has erupted 40 times since 1828. The most recent eruptions were in 2017, after which the park was closed for over a year. Now many of the parks trails are closed and visitors are only allowed at the crater viewpoint for 20 minutes; that is with a hard hat, of course. The four of us started our day at 7:00 am. We had to buy tickets in advance and it is recommended to go as early as possible since clouds start to come in around noon. So officially, our time to be at the crater was 9:20 am. After we took an uber for 1.5 hours, through some very windy roads in a really cramped car, we got to the park entrance. Right away I noticed the elevation change and it was slightly harder to breathe. After a short wait in the lodge and a brief safety lecture, we walked to the crater viewpoint. They had warned us that the 20 minutes s

Tortuguero island was the first official USAC field trip. It was included in the cost of tuition. Our day started bright and early at 7am, where we boarded a bus for an hour road trip to Puntarenas. In Puntarenas, we stopped to pick up the USAC students who are staying there and we all loaded onto a boat that was chartered by a private company. Lighthouse in Puntarenas The first part of the trip, and arguably the most exciting, was the boat ride to the island. Once we all settled down, the crew served us fresh pineapple and watermelon. I've never been a fan of tropical fruits but for some reason (probably because they are local) they were super delicious. It was on this trip that we also saw dolphins. This is the first time I had seen dolphins and it was really amazing. Not long after we saw the dolphins, the crew spotted a couple of humpback whales too! At this point I decided to hang out on the deck of the boat, despite the fact that I got soaking wet doing so. Th

Monday : This was technically the first full day of classes, but since I didn't have any, I didn't really do anything today but explore the town and hang out with other students. It was someone's birthday so we went out to the bars to celebrate at night. This is where we officially met our first local Tico, Marco, who showed us where to go. First bar night! Tuesday : I had class for the first time since being here. It was Environmental Policy and since it was only the first day, we just went over the syllabus and introduced ourselves. It is a small class with only 4 students and 1 professor. Since class got out early and many other students don't have class on Tuesdays, some of us took a bus to the beach in Puntarenas. The bus ride was about an hour longer than it said it was going to be, but it was cheap so that's ok. The beach itself was alright. It wasn't too clean and I've since heard that it isn't a favorite amongst the locals but the wa