Aero: Katie Heubusch – Costa Rica 2014 – City Life
Aero: Katie Heubusch – Costa Rica 2014 – City Life
Aero: Katie Heubusch – Costa Rica 2014 – City Life
Katie Heubusch
Life in Alajuela was very different from what I’m used to. I come from Buffalo, but I live in a suburb so I’m well immersed in city life, but I live in a quiet neighborhood with fairly large houses. The population of my city with surrounding suburbs is about 300,000. Alajuela was a small city, but even so, it seemed as if everyone knew everybody. It was frustrating to me, because we live close together, yet it seems no one knows his or her neighbor. Seeing people interact daily on the streets was so heart-warming because if they were indeed strangers, they greeted each other as if they were family.
What was so shocking to me at first was the bars on all of the windows and houses. It worried me, because it reminded me of Buffalo’s east side, which is extraordinarily dangerous, but it turned out to be the norm, so it was easy to get used to! There were always lots of people strolling around at all hours of the day. The warm climate and friendly atmosphere was too intoxicating to stay away from. It seemed people moved a bit more slowly and casually in Costa Rica. It was awkward being a tourist, especially hearing the “De donde es baby?” on a day-to-day basis. It just grew to be humorous, and soon everyone was accepting of their American tourist status. due to us being tourists or maybe even young American women.
Costa Rica 2014 Photo Gallery
Another thing hard to ignore was the driving. I thought either I, or a pedestrian was going to be killed every time I got in a car! Driving was crazy, it reminded me of Boston or New York, but everyone knew what they were doing! There were one-way streets just about everywhere. It’s common in some areas of my city, but not nearly as common as in Costa Rica. Cops walked around the city casually, as almost everyone did. It reminded me of being in New Orleans, where the saying is, “let the good times roll.” I miss the air of friendliness around the city. Being at home now for a few weeks I’m put back into the hide in the house type of mood.
Learn More: Study abroad with Modern Languages @ FLCC: Costa Rica!
– Katie Heubusch
The LEAF Project
www.leaflanguages.org
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