Aero: Alysa Halsey – Costa Rica 2016 – City Life

… I’ve lived in the country almost my whole life, and for the most part, I’ve enjoyed it. But just like anything else, there are advantages and disadvantages to living away from the city. Granted, I get a lot of quiet time and slow traffic. But on the downside, if I want to go shopping […]

Aero: Sarah Warner – Costa Rica 2016 – Life at Home

… Although I love to travel and have stayed away from my family for weeks to months at a time, I still had a few nerves about staying with a foreign family for a couple weeks.  I wanted them to like me, and I certainly did not want to come across as rude or ignorant.  […]

Aero: Sarah Warner – Costa Rica 2016 – City Life

… When I think of Costa Rica/Nicaragua and “city life” the first thing that comes to my mind is the driving. I think every time I was in a motor vehicle in Alajuela I was scared for my life. I told my host brother Daniel countless times that I could never drive where he lives […]

Aero: Brianna Cardina – Costa Rica 2016 – City Life

… Life outside of the house was quite different than what I experienced at home in the US. I’ll start with talking about – quite literally – the outside of the house. There was no front yard or back yard on ours, and many of the others. The house was small, and only two floors […]

Aero: Brianna Cardina – Costa Rica 2016 – Life at Home

… Life at home was the same, yet different. We all ate food together, chatted with each other about our days, and went to bed at decent times. But we had new foods, a language barrier, and an earlier bed time. … … In the mornings, we were waken up at 6 AM or earlier… […]

Aero: Brianna Jackson – Costa Rica 2016 – City Life

… The city of Alajuela was where we were most of our time, and it was nothing like I expected. I was expecting it to look like New York City, or something similar, with big skyscraper buildings, all fancy and gleaming. What I was introduced to however was a small city that was very welcoming, […]

Aero: Brianna Jackson – Costa Rica 2016 – Life at Home

… Living with a host family in Costa Rica was one of my biggest concerns. I was worried about living with complete strangers, who didn’t speak English, in a foreign country that I had never been to. I didn’t want to make the wrong impression, doing something that would offend them, and so on. I […]

Aero: Tiffany Bane – Costa Rica 2016 – City Life

… The city of Alajuela is very different from the United States. Within the Central Park is the Cathedral, and most cities in Latin America are built with the church facing east and the city built around it. There are several churches in Alajuela and each one had a service when we saw it. In […]

Aero: Tiffany Bane – Costa Rica 2016 – Life at Home

… My host family was amazing, and very loving. Our host mother was always asking the four of us in the house if we needed anything to be more comfortable and were always trying to feed us. Of course we were always ready for food. By the time we got up in the morning, there […]

Aero: Kelly Bailey – Costa Rica 2016 – Life at Home

… Spending this time at Mayra’s house was my first experience living in someone’s home that was not family. By the end of the trip I felt as though a had a second family. … … Every morning Mayra cooked breakfast for not only us, but for Pablo and Carolina her children. When I say […]