Unlike a lot of volunteers in Latin America, I didn’t come down here specifically to find a volunteer position. Sure, I was planning on getting involved in the community and volunteering my time wherever I ended up, but the plan was to end up with a paid job, and then figure out the rest from [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Costa Rica’
Rural Poverty in Costa Rica: A Local Farmer’s Perspective
As the world spins into the year 2011, groups are battling for control. Countries, companies, NGOs and their various public relations departments are focusing their energies on how to look good in an increasingly ugly global economy. Everywhere you look, every product you pick up, whether it be an a[...]
November 17th, 2010 - 6:30 pm § in Costa Rica, Tips & Resources
Inevitable Roommate Drama
Living in a foreign country can be tricky. Most travelers I’ve met have grown accustomed to living in various situations. By lowering general standards of cleanliness and order, one becomes flexible and adaptable to a range of personality types and overall living conditions. But everyone has a[...]
Do I Even Speak Spanish?
Ever since my first trip to Costa Rica a year ago, I have been bragging to my Canadian friends about my new trilingual status. I have a minimal formal Spanish education (beginners Spanish at university, which I barely passed) and I have never lived in a Spanish speaking country other than Costa Rica[...]
If You Travel to Costa Rica, Make Sure to See More Than San Jose
It’s probably a cliché by now to complain about San Jose, and other major Central American cities, but I’m gonna do it anyways. After all, if everyone else gets to take a shot, am I not entitled to one? I had been working in an office setting in San Jose for a month and had forgotten [.[...]
It’s All About Who You Know
Awhile back, I learned an important lesson about international volunteering. As Peace Corps volunteers we enter our communities for two years equipped with an entire flash drive full of resources (ideas, pre-made programs, previously used programs, workshops, talks, etc.), most of them tried and tru[...]
Warning to Women: Thicken Your Skin, Machismo Awaits in Costa Rica
With a female president and numerous high ranking female politicians, one would tend to think that the Costa Rican people are progressive in terms of gender issues. It is for this reason that I am surprised by the level of machismo, or paternalistic ways of thinking and acting that exist in the coun[...]
Take Your Own Advice
The first thing I noticed was the smell. Stepping off the plane around 10 p.m. after nearly being turned around due to a lack of visibility as we flew through a lightning storm, I was hit with the humid smell of San Jose. (I can’t describe it really; it’s something you have to smell it [[...]
