INLEXCA: Volunteer in Costa Rica

All in all, it was a great experience.
So I just wanna mention some facts that I likes especially or also some I did not like. To help you to improve and to write an honest review.

I especially liked:
- that the coordinator was always there to help
- that there were also other volunteers in my town, it makes the first weeks way easier
- that my boss in my work was openminded for my ideas

what could be improved:
- the job was very different than described in the brochure in Germany
- some more activities together with the coordinator and the volunteers could be organized
- the host family was more like a hotel than a family - they were lovely, but needed the money and I was treated more like in a hotel than like living together with a family.

Last summer after passing my final exams in high-school I decided to go to Costa Rica to learn Spanish and getting to know the Latin Culture.
There are various organizations which offer trips and volunteer-stays in Central America, especially in Costa Rica which is knwon as the saftiest country in this region. The reason I choose to go with Inlex was because there programmes in community developement sounded more interesting to me than caring for children or passing my days in a butterfly-farm.
I had a great time and made some great experiences, I met friendly people all over the country and i achieved an important goal by speaking spanish fluently within six month.
But overall I have to say I am kind of disappointed.Dont get me wrong, I don't want to blame anyone of the people with who I passed half a year. People who always care for you, if you need help, people do the best they can, to provide you a wonderful time. But still I have to say I was kind of bored most of the time. If you are the nature guy, I am sure you will love Costa Rica. The rainforest in the mountains, the dry and hot areas in the north, the carreaben beaches which look exactly like directly from Hollywood - all these are beatiful and impressing places. If you are the social guy who likes to meet many interesting people, who loves a good conversation and needs some cultural input there is good chance to you won't be satisfied. Sometimes I had the feeling Costa Rica lacks of these things. Of course, that is unfair to say because even in half a year I had the chance to see only a small part of Costa Rica, also it is my very subjective point of view on the other hand that is just a resume of the expierence I made. You won't find much indigenoues culture, you won't find that romatic socialist touch you may think of when you hear stories about Latin America. Instead you will feel the big influence of the U.S. (I don't want to say that's bad thing, but maybe not the reason why you take a long journey to Costa Rica), you will probably pass many hours in malls because thats how many Ticos spend their time, many nights in mostly German and American hostels because these are the nicest and cheapest all along the coast... I guess all depends on your expectations so make sure they fit. Honestly I have to admit that there were many others who had a great time and I defenitly don't regret I went to CR but after all the experiences I made would have gone to a bigger city with more social activities and more intellectual-input.

I had a great time in Costa Rica. The people and the way of living made it easy for me to feel at ease and i soon started to get closer to the culture and to other people - natives and other volunteers. I made a lot of new friends and discovered the kindness of so many people. The work as such gave me the feeling to be needed in some way, but also to find myself in working with and talking to people, so different in many ways.
I was lucky to be in contact with such nice, helpful and lovely persons and I had the chance to learn to speak and to communicate in my own way (in an other language).
All in all I can say that i don't regret having made this decision to go to Costa Rica and to work with and for INLEX.
I am grateful to all the people who made my stay there as comfortable as i could imagine. The people who were/are in charge of the costa rican program were so kind, nice, helpful and became true friends.