Pura Vida with CISabroad

I had a great time studying abroad in Costa Rica. San Jose was a good location because it's the capital and you get to see museums and all the history but you are also in a central location to take buses to beaches/other parts of the country. This was my first time going abroad, so it was so helpful to go with a third party program that would coordinate my housing, some meals, academics, some excursions, etc for me. Now that I have travelling experience, if I were to study abroad again I would arrange it myself (do direct exchange instead of a program) to save money. I liked that the program had excursions at the beginning to help you get acquainted to the culture/country. As time goes on, you get more comfortable with travelling and navigating the language/money/culture, and you can plan your own trips. In my last month, I planned a trip to Nicaragua with 3 other girls, and for our week off we booked everything ourselves and traveled all over Costa Rica. Basically, the excursions are expensive but worth it at the beginning, but once you know how to travel you should plan trip with friends to save money plus you get to choose exactly what you want to do. When students got sick, they initially paid for the hospital bill themselves, and were reimbursed later from CISabroad. My pre-departure advisor Jessica was THE BOMB - so helpful and kind and understanding. She checked up on my several times and was SO much more helpful than my school study abroad advisor. I felt taken care of and supported as I prepared to leave the US.