Costa Rica Archives - IFSA

Staying Culturally Connected During Study Abroad

acarter — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 16:39:38 +0000

It’s so exciting to get to know the culture of another country when you’re studying abroad—new food, new music, new people, new landscapes, new everything! But sometimes a wave of homesickness can hit you unexpectedly hard. Here are a few things I’ve been doing over the past year to feel more connected to home and [...]

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How to Navigate Study Abroad When You’re Completely Lost in Class

acarter — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 14:47:57 +0000

When you go abroad and take classes with local students, you'll encounter many things that make absolutely no sense. It's already challenging to study Spanish, but on top of that, you're expected to learn about other topics like economics, the environment, psychology, and philosophy—all in Spanish! It’s tough, to say the least. When I studied [...]

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How Study Abroad in Costa Rica Helped Me Rediscover My True Self

acarter — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 22:11:14 +0000

These past weeks feel like a dream. It’s as if I’ve been transported to another world—a completely different country, immersed in an unfamiliar family, experiencing things I had never imagined. For me, this journey has been filled with so many "firsts," and that is exactly what I was seeking: to continually create and embrace these [...]

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Rugby Offers Opportunity to Improve Spanish Skills

Kate — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 15:13:35 +0000

Ella Gianino discusses how practicing with the local White Wolves ruby team helped her overcome language barriers and experience an additional facet of the Heredia community. How did you get involved in rugby in Costa Rica?My host family and I usually go to the neighborhood park to play soccer in the evenings. It was at [...]

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Expectations of Studying Abroad

Kate — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 14:25:21 +0000

Expectations studying abroad were always one of the aspects of college I was looking forward to most. Although my major, second language, and goals may have changed, my desire to spend time outside of the United States remained constant. It’s quite a cliché to hear, “My semester abroad changed my life!” so I had a [...]

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How Studying Abroad in Costa Rica Defined My Future in International Relations

Kate — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 15:35:02 +0000

For some students, studying abroad is the opportunity to experience a new culture and expand your understanding of the world. For other students, there is a requirement for study abroad to help improve language skills or intercultural communication skills to graduate with their specific major. For me, it was both. I wanted to study abroad [...]

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Do’s and Don’ts of Study Abroad in Costa Rica

Kate — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:54:25 +0000

As I finish up my semester here in Costa Rica, I’ve been taking more and more time to reflect upon the culture that I’ve integrated myself in through the IFSA Universidad Nacional Partnership. Costa Rica and studying abroad have their quirks, but you stop noticing them after a while. These differences became starker to me [...]

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What Studying Abroad Taught Me About Learning a New Language

acarter — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 13:56:49 +0000

Doubt “Sí, se puedes.” These are the words that hung on a poster on the back wall of Rodney’s (my IFSA Resident Director) office. The phrase means “Yes, you can” in Spanish. However, as I sat in front of Rodney, nearly in tears, I could not bring myself to believe these words. I had been abroad in [...]

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Saving Money in Costa Rica

Kate — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 16:04:16 +0000

Managing money abroad is always a topic of stress, regardless of one’s financial status. No matter how much leeway you have with your budget, it’s always best to err on the side of saving money. Here are some tips I’ve found helpful in saving money in Costa Rica: Before you go The first step to [...]

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How to Break Your Ankle Abroad

Kate — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 10:28:28 +0000

There is no ‘good time’ to break a bone. Breaking one’s ankle abroad might be the most inopportune timing. Unfortunately, it happened to me! I don’t get to have the fun story of saying I was zip lining or cliff rappelling, because I broke my ankle while walking down a hill during a school field [...]

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