Summer Abroad 2010

My experience with API in Costa Rica was amazing. I spent a summer abroad there and participated in the Spanish for Nursing program that was just starting up. Our API group consisted of 10 students and only one other was doing the Spanish for Nursing program with me. However, once we arrived in San Joaquin de Flores we combined our program with one from the University of Illinois so that there was a bigger group.

While there I stayed with a host family that was unbelievably great. My tico family was an elderly couple who had kids and grandkids living in the area. Although the couple lived alone they were always having people over. They were so welcoming and kind that I felt comfortable right away. I was also lucky enough to be living quite close to the school so that I could easily walk to class every day.

As far as the classes went, they were pretty good. The Spanish for Nursing class that I took was different from what I expected but really interesting all the same. Instead of focusing on learning vocabulary that would apply to the health care field we learned a lot about the Costa Rican health care system and did field visits each week to different types of clinics and hospitals in the area. It was interesting to see how a universal health care system works and discuss pros and cons of their system with the locals. The other class that I took was a film class that was interesting in that we watched a lot of movies that demonstrated how different the Latin and Hispanic cultures are and how they are portrayed in film; however, if I were to do it again I probably would have taken one of the history classes instead.

I think what really made this experience as great as it was was the API staff in Costa Rica as well as the other students on the trip. The two API staff members were outstanding. They were always so kind and helpful when we needed any assistance with school stuff or trip planning. They were really great resources to have and just really fun to talk with. The program itself was planned out so well and everything went so smoothly, getting us from one place to the next, taking group trips, etc. All of our accommodations on the excursions were amazing and they just took really great care of us. Lastly, the other students in the API group were so much fun to be with. I'm not sure if we just got lucky with such a great group of people but we all got along really well and planned out group trips to different parts of the country almost every weekend. (Getting from San Joaquin de Flores to other places was fairly easy since it was about 45 minutes from San Jose, and almost all destinations were accessible from San Jose.) It was nice to go out and experience everything with other students who were as enthusiastic to be there as I was.

Overall I thought that this program was fantastic and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go. I improved my Spanish a lot, made new friends, and fell in love with Costa Rica. If I could have stayed longer I would have, but unfortunately my major was difficult to work into study abroad curricula. Regardless, I think it was a a great time and a great experience that I would highly recommend.