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...

The Church of San Ramon. This Catholic Church lies in the center of the city. I officially got to my host city around 11:00pm on August 23. At this time I didn't get to see much of the city, but the next day my host mother walked me around. Apparently, we arrived at the beginning of the Festival of San Ramon, a 15 day celebration for the patron saint of the city. This festival includes music, food, dancing, and booths. I don't know if it has to do with the Festival, but San Ramon is a very lively city.  Many places I researched described San Ramon as a very small city. I guess compared to San Jose, it might be. To me though, San Ramon is about the size of Bellingham. So in the way that Bellingham is small compared to Seattle, San Ramon is a small city.  San Ramon is a city that has everything a person could need. When I travelled, I brought all kinds of soaps and bathroom items with me because I heard mixed reviews about the availability of these items. After wa...

I am one month away from leaving to spend almost 4 months in the tropical Costa Rica. So what am I feeling?  (Arenal Volcano. Photo Source:  http://deluxetravelcr.com/la-fortuna-san-carlos/ ) I'm Excited About: -  Meeting my host family. We don't find out who they are until about a week before we go, but I am really excited to find out who I am going to be living with. - Meeting my classmates. There are 25 other study abroad students who are living in San Ramon with me and I am looking forward to getting to know them and hang out with them.  - Going to Cuba! This was a big factor in making my decision to study abroad with this program. Cuba is very secluded, but every picture I've seen or stories I've heard make Cuba sound really beautiful and culturally rich. Someone told me that it's like travelling back in time, which is something I am looking forward to experiencing myself.  - Going to Arenal Volcano! This is one of the included...

To start off, I should explain why I am even studying abroad in the first place:  (Photo Source:  https://www.zauca.com/travel-agency-website-design-rs-3800/ ) Since high school, I knew study abroad was something I wanted out of my college experience. I have always loved to travel (who doesn't?!?) and wanted include these travels as part of my educational journey. Even going into Summer Start (Western's freshmen orientation day), I made sure to go to the education abroad orientation and learn as much as I can. Studying abroad was always in my lifelong plan.  It wasn't until my sophomore year of college, when my roommate at the time was gearing up to spend a year in Spain, that I seriously started looking into my options.  For my major, Environmental Science, there is one specific graduation requirement where students have to either do an internship, senior project, thesis, or study abroad to earn 5-10 credits (when I started the major it was 10-15 credits)....