29 reviews
4.37 / 5 based on 29 reviews

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lvmac
Student life
Describe host city:
Students interact with the local community without much university involvement
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Activities, Travel, Nightlife: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
In Puntarenas it's pretty obvious where to go. It's a small town and not too much happening. Canaval is great though--during February? Lots of vendors, junk to buy, plenty of beer, and loud music and sweaty ticos ready to pick up on gringas.
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lvmac
Housing
Type of housing: With a family
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
In my case, my host family was not very neat, at times dirty. Once, I moved in and had been therea week or so, the quality improved. I enjoyed living wth the family, but if I were to go back I would want a new experience--living on my own or with others in a program.
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Personal comments
I felt that the price my host family RECEIVED was fair, but what I was charged was not. The host family received a portion of what I paid. The USAC program charged (what I thought to be) an excessive fee for "locating" a host family for students.
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lvmac
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Personal savings
Other sources of funding:
Family
Work opportunities:
Personal spending habits
Food was paid for with my host family, only extras did I have to pay for.
Phone is extremely expensive in CR. One pays each time a local call is placed.
The nightlife was cheaper than at home, but not worth what they charged. But since in Puntarenas there is not much to do in the evenings--I had to pay.
Travel was quite cheap-especially transportation. The room accomadations were inexpensive, but still more than I expected.
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Telephone:
was more expensive than at home.
Housing:
was the same price as at home.
Overall, Food, Travel, Nightlife:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
CR is a lot more expensive than I expected. Food was comparable to the States and motel rooms were much more than I expected.
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lvmac
Languages
Language of instruction: Spanish
Was learning Spanish a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my Spanish
How much did you improve your Spanish?
My level before: Did not speak it
My level after: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
I found that even though I knew little Spanish the locals were usually patient and I did not have too many troubles. At times, neither I nor the local had any idea what each was saying and we left it at that. It helped very much to travel with other students who were more fluent.
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lvmac
Overall
I wish I had known...
I wish that I had known how much money, realistically, I would have needed. had some kind of introduction to my family before being dumped into their hands--some/any info would have been great.
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In my opinion:
I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
If you are in early Spanish courses and you want to learn a lot and study hard-pick Heredia. If you want to learn, but aren't overly concered pick the Punt. Even though Puntarenas is by the ocean it's not paradise--it is nice, but not paradise.
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
Met people from other countries
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies & career
Final comments
Travel, travel, travel! Drink the water, it's just fine. talk to as many people as you can, watch TV and "read" papers in your host country's language. Go to events (sports, concerts, etc), it's a great place to learn foul language and get riled up. And try to enjoy the experiece not matter what, beacuse eventually you'll be home again.
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lvmac
Academic
Course recommendations
The lower level Spanish courses were not very challenging and should have been, for our benefit as students and visitors to a foreign country. The tropical ecology course was great though--we covered a lot of topics and I came away much more informed about the CR, its environment and people. Many of the toics in this course impacted me--I am much more sensitive and fired up about deforestation and pollution. Take dance. It is such an integral part of Costa Rican socialization.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
Make the Spanish 1 & 2 courses more challenging. It is so important to have a good working knowledge of a country's language.
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My opinion of the university assessment
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course