Government

I’m majoring in political science, so there was no hesitation in choosing the Costa Rican government as my next essay topic. Fortunately, this aligns with the importance of researching the country you plan to study abroad in. With a few quick Google searches, I was able to learn that Costa Rica has a democratic government and how it is structured, has remained mostly democratic since gaining independence in 1821, a brief overview of its economics, and so on. Some websites that I found helpful in researching the government are the United States Travel Advisory and Freedom House. These websites will be linked below. 

History

I only briefly researched Costa Rica’s history but found it interesting that Costa Rica got its name “Rich Coast,” in some accounts, by Christopher Colombus because of the expensive gold gifts he received as well as the expensive jewelry the indigenous people wore. I looked mostly into government history such as how Costa Rica was part of the Central American Federation until 1838 when the country formally withdrew and proclaimed sovereignty. Furthermore, Costa Rica is one of Central America’s oldest democracies maintaining this government system since September 15, 1821, with two exceptions, involving a dictatorship ruled by Federico Tinoco and an armed uprising led by Jose Figueres.

Culture

Culture can be defined as characteristics that a group of people share such as a language, place of birth, mannerisms or social behavior, cuisine, art, music, and literature. When researching this, something that I found helpful to learn is that Costa Ricans are called Ticos and Ticas (masculine and feminine). Many meals in Costa Rica include rice and beans. 

Predominate Religion

I think another important thing to research before going abroad is the predominant religion. The state religion of Costa Rica is Catholicism where over 75% of Costa Ricans consider themselves Catholic. This is important to know because you want to make sure you are being respectful in the new environment you are in. Blasphemy can be considered a serious offense in some countries. 

Panama

I went to Panama through the university because I went through the four-month program. In Costa Rica, you can only stay for three months without a visa so the university and other programs took the four-month students to Panama for more than 72 hours to renew the time. Through the university, this costs about $400 and does not include lunch and dinner. 

Colombia

Next, I went to Colombia with three friends. We decided to take this trip because we had a week off for Semana Santa and because we wanted to go to South America. We spent about five days in Cartegena and Medellin. We flew from Cartegena to Medellin for about $60 with a carry-on and personal item. The total cost was about $700 for this trip including food, hostels, and activities. 

Nicaragua

Then I went to Nicaragua with another group of friends. We decided to go by bus which cost about $75 to and from. We had to go to the actual bus station to purchase the tickets. We did a boat tour and took time to explore the city. This was only for the three-day weekend so we did not have too much time in Nicaragua. The bus ride was about 13 hours which we did overnight so it was not too bad. 

Guatemala 

Lastly, I did a solo trip to Guatemala. I stayed in Antigua, Guatemala for five days. The flight ticket was about $160 round trip and the hostels were from $11-$18 a night. To get to and from Guatemala City, I booked a shuttle through Transnica for about $25 dollars each way. I ended up hiking the Acatenago Volcano through V-Hiking Tours which cost about $100. They provided a shelter to stay in for the night and had winter gear and backpacks that you could rent. I also did an ATV sunset tour for about $60. Overall, as a solo female traveler, I felt safe traveling in Antigua. The overall cost of this trip was about $500. 

• Start early

  • Knowing you want to study abroad early on is great because you can immediately start saving! Some students are worried about the financial aspect of studying abroad but studying abroad can be affordable depending on where you want to go. I funded my study abroad experience through financial aid, savings, and scholarships such as the Gilman Scholarship. 

• Scholarship Tips

  • Every study abroad scholarship is different. Be sure to use the resources that the scholarship you are applying for provides. For example, the Gilman scholarship had plenty of webinars and people to talk about how to improve your essays and what they are looking for. 

• Download maps

  • On Google Maps, you can download maps so that you can use them while you are offline. This is how I navigated the city without data. 

• Course Curriculum

  • Don’t be afraid to ask your advisor how courses can look abroad in the place you want to study abroad. My academic experience in Costa Rica involved a lot of discussion and presentations. Some people don’t like that but I feel that it helped me grow a lot in this area. 

• Research common tourist scams in the area

• Research transportation

• Race- as a woman of color, I wanted to make sure I knew information about how people who look like me are treated in the area before I went.

  • It never hurts to research how different races and ethnicities are treated in different countries. Unfortunately, racism is still an issue. 

• Get a travel card

  • This can help gain travel perks. Some travel cards don’t charge an international fee when you use it.