Living the Pura Vida

I honestly went into this experience with no expectations, with the fear that if I didn't meet said expectations, I would leave with a lot of regrets. But the beauty in that is I was game for anything. It also hurt me because I could have sought out more opportunities to discover new things, but ran out of time to do so. One weekend, I wanted to revisit La Fortuna, hoping to actually see the volcano, but I left my host mom's house without my wallet, so I couldn't board the bus. It worked out because it was a rainy weekend, so my desire to see the volcano probably would not have worked out, but I got to attend a Korean festival in the city and discover a new coffee shop that I enjoyed returning to.

As someone who enjoys being outside without being super outdoorsy, I loved Costa Rica. It was easy to find outdoor activities I enjoyed, like lying on a nice beach, walking around town for a couple of hours, or mild hikes that may have included ziplining. You do need to have some enjoyment of the outdoors, but there are plenty of ways to be outside comfortably.

Academically, the school was neat! They don't believe that exams are the best way to demonstrate students' knowledge, so there are very few exams, if any. They do make up for this in projects and presentations, but I found myself diving into the research since I got to choose what I wanted to learn instead of being assigned a topic. The professors also use this as an opportunity to further their learning, which made my work feel valued more. One thing I wish I had known about the classes was that they're primarily Americans with a handful of Germans taking classes. There are no national students taking the class with you or other international students. So there was a disconnect between the local students and the ones studying abroad, on top of the fact that the local students are studying artistic things, whereas the international students are studying language or science topics, so even less overlap.