Homestay in Heredia

I took a weeks' course at each of Intercultura's locations, although I only stayed with a host family in Heredia.

The host family experience was fantastic and I thoroughly recommend it! I was impressed by the high standard of the home; the family were really fun, warm and caring and made time to talk to us each day. They spoke almost no English with guaranteed a fully immersive environment and kept me thinking in Spanish all day! Having meals included was really convenient and saved a lot of time (handy when there’s homework to complete!) and allowed us to sample traditional every day Costa Rican food.

I was happy with the facilities at the school and quality of teaching, and I particularly appreciated the way the curriculum was structured into one-week set programmes with an individual textbook. It’s a really great way to accommodate students who are constantly joining and departing each week, and ensures students aren’t placed in a group that has already been running for some time, or don’t end up repeating things to accommodate new students. Having someone arrange excursions was also a huge bonus, as it made it so much easier to get out and about and see the local sights – especially when the school has it’s own transportation.

I really enjoyed Heredia as a city, personally probably more than Samara beach as I prefer urban living to the outdoors. My favourite art was probably going to see a football match – what an atmosphere!