Aero: Kevin Urbaitis – Costa Rica 2015 – City Life

Aero: Kevin Urbaitis – Costa Rica 2015 – City Life
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Aero: Kevin Urbaitis – Costa Rica 2015 – City Life

…

…

Kevin Urbaitis

The cities and villages were very different from their United States counterparts. I will base most of my reflection off of the city of Alajuela, where I spent the most time. The first thing that was completely new and different to me was not having street signs or addresses. It was hard to understand and contemplate how anyone gets around and finds things without using street names and addresses. We learned that Alajuela was set up in an even square with each block being one meter long. The more time I spent exploring and walking around Alajuela the easier it become to navigate and understand how people travel around the city.

Another thing that was very different in Alajuela compared to the United States was the use of the central square. While many United States cities and towns have a central park or square area, they are often not used how Alajuela’s is. The central park in Alajuela was busy all times of day and truly served as the social center for the city. There always seemed to be events going on in the park no matter if it was day or night. People gathered on the benches or wherever they felt comfortable to converse and talk with one another. The craziest thing to me was the traffic in the different cities. Compared to the United States there was little to no traffic laws, I felt like it was often a free for all when it came to driving vehicles. Motorcycles could swerve in and out of traffic like it was nothing, and often cut it real close to hitting other vehicles while attempting to swerve in between or around them. Public transportation was very similar to the United States. Many people utilized the abundance of taxis and buses that traveled within and around the different cities.

ML@FLCC Costa Rica
2015 Flickr Gallery

Another interesting fact I learned was to why there is no subway systems in Costa Rica. When traveling around San Jose and Alajuela I often wondered why there was no subway system in these rather big cities. The answer was in that similar to California the ground was just not stable enough to have a subway system running, mainly because of all the volcanic activity in the area. I enjoyed my time in the different cities and villages across Costa Rica, I felt like each place we visited had a different feel and different vibe to it. I never felt uncomfortable or threatened in any of the cities which we visited, which is a great thing. It was interesting to see how tourism and U.S. consumerism impacts the stores and what is sold within a city. I did not expect to see so many United States brands and restaurants while visiting and traveling around Costa Rica.

Kevin Urbaitis
LEAF Contributor