The reason I've resurrected this thing is that I'm in Costa Rica for about 2 weeks with Beyond Borders, and I really enjoyed my journaling experience while I was in Jamaica so I figured I'd give it another shot. Basically, same gig as Jamaica--I'm on a cultural exchange through FSU. In January, 10 students from the University of Costa Rica came to FSU, and we hosted a variety of different events/activities for them, including a boat ride at Wakulla Springs, a tour of the capital, southern dinners, etc. Now, it's our turn to travel to UCR and learn about their country and culture. I'm not interning this time though--I'm one of the trip leaders. So here goes nothing...
Arriving to Costa Rica Yesterday was long. We had a 6 hour layover in the Miami airport, where I filled my time with floor-sleeping in a variety of locations, milkshake consumption, and reading for summer courses. The book I{m reading for my Women in Higher Education course is kind of a Blade-Runner-meets-Hunger-Games distopian society novel, which is a welcome alternative to "Educational Research Methods".
Upon arriving in San Jose, we were met by a cohort of about 6-7 people from the University of Costa Rica, including 2 program coordinators and 3 students that had participated in the FSU exchange.
Our drive to Turrialba was long and bumpy, but the scenery was beautiful. I was disheartened to find out that the majority of Jurassic Park was actually filmed in Hawaii, because the country really does look a lot like Isla Nublar. Luis Pablo, one of the students, described the National Theater (in San Jose), Cartaga (old capital), and this incredible church (will look up the name later) where an annual pilgrimage of sorts takes place--residents walk from home to the church and literally crawl on their knees to the door. Some come from as far as 70 miles away. As we were zipping around dangerous mountain curves in our 15 passenger bus, Luis Pablo also told us the legend of the "bride"--she appears to drunk drivers and requests a ride. If you give her a ride, she´ll leave you to your own devices, but if you refuse, she makes sure that you wreck your car. True story. Look up the legend of La Cegua.
Despite a really late bedtime (2AM), I woke up at 6 to explore the area around our hotel. Check facebook for more pictures.
We got to campus around 8AM and our hosts cooked a delicious breakfast with huevos, arroz, papaya, pan, jugo de tamarindo. After breakfast, we got a presentation of the University of Costa Rica system. Turrialba, the campus at which we are staying for the majority of our trip, is one of three "Sedes" (branches) of the Atlantic Campus. There are 6 main campuses, each with several sedes. There are less than 1,000 students at the Turrialba campus, so it is very, very small. The campus itself looks a lot like the University of the West Indies--lots of open spaces, bright colors, squirrels on crack, etc.
I really enjoyed our tour. We went to a natural history museum on campus and learned about the indigenous peoples of the area, saw a ton of animals in formaldehyde, and visited with a group of at-risk elementary school kids who were being mentored by UCR students.
One of the most interesting things we saw today was some sort of 'art theory and therapy' program that was taught in an outdoor classroom--basically a group of about 5 or 6 students painting watercolor paintings in a classroom that looked like a cage. My Spanish is pathetically rusty, but I'm making it work, and I feel like my comprehension is coming back pretty quickly. I also went for a run through downtown Turrialba today with one of the students and really enjoyed getting to view the city from a different perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment