API at the ICDS in San Jose, Costa Rica

I really liked this program because it was a smaller group of people. This allowed me to truly get to know all the people on my program and have positive relationships with the professors. For some of the classes, the professors took our group on field trips to see what we were learning in class, in real life. I really appreciated learning sustainability from a different country perspective and learning about issues Costa Rica faces. The city of San Jose was very manageable. It was not too big so you could easily navigate it but also find cool little neighborhoods with cute cafés and shops. San José was great for traveling out of because it is the capital and also located in the middle of the country. I was able to buy cheap bus tickets to anywhere in the country very easily. Additionally, I felt very safe when traveling in Costa Rica because the locals are very nice and helpful. They are also very patient when you are trying to practice your Spanish. I think the most helpful thing was having program directors on sight in San José. They were API employees but from the area. My program directors helped us with anything we needed, plus they were so knowledgable about the country and its history. I would have lunch with them every other week and they would just check and give us recommendations if we wanted to travel somewhere. They made all of us feel so at home. Overall, a wonderful program.