I have now been in San Jose, Costa Rica for almost 3 weeks, and am excited to share about my cultural immersion so far.

The San Jose environment is similar to my home in Philadelphia and in Pittsburgh in the way that meals are conducted. You wait to be seated at restaurants, and dinner at home is done when all family members are present, and seated together at a proper table. There is also a similar way of friendliness to Pittsburgh, where you will be greeted by strangers passing by on the street. You will also find very similar products at stores to those in the US.

Some differences I have noted are also often at food service establishments.  “Hora de Café” is in the afternoon, unlike the morning for us, and you will see many people out with their friends after morning classes enjoying a caffeinated beverage. Meals are paid for at the counter, and tips are included within the price of the item on the menu. Cafés also all have a garden area, allowing for both indoor and outdoor seating at every establishment I have been to thus far. Plant decorations are a lot more common indoors. 

Cars will not stop for pedestrians here, which means that paying attention to the road is of utmost importance at all times. Unfortunately I have also noticed that catcalling is a lot more normalized here, as you will often find yourself catcalled by drivers on any road. The culture emphasizes the importance of walking instead of driving as much, including rules that prohibit certain license plates from entering the main city square on certain days of the week.  

It is common to go to the supermarket bakery after class to buy an empanada or a pasta salad instead of sitting down somewhere, as it is much more cost effective. You also must leave the house every day with a raincoat, since it has not gone a day without a heavy rainfall. 

My day at my host location is very different from mine in Pittsburgh. I wake up at 7am to get ready and have breakfast together with my host family at 8am, every day. The routineness of meals is extremely common here. I proceed to have class, Advanced Spanish for Medical Professions, from 9am-Noon. After this, I usually go to the gym with my roommate, then explore the city by visiting a new coffee shop and getting our homework done. We tend to be out for a while, only heading home around 6:30 to be ready for the daily scheduled 7pm dinner, after which we go to a social event with other friends from our classes. We have been to karaoke, Costa Rican National Soccer games, and we often go to get an after dinner sweet treat. At home, my schedule is much more focused on classwork, which is why I am enjoying this nice balance.

The pace of life is a lot slower here. We often use the term “ticotime” (“ticos” being the word to refer to Costa Ricans) to describe the normality of being late, and life is much more leisurely. You take your time with your meals, sitting down for a coffee and not having the ability to get too much “to go.”

Around me there are a lot of plants, especially those that are expensive tropical houseplants you can only purchase at plant nurseries. There is a lot of protection around the wildlife, so the streets are greener, livelier, and show off a wider variety of animal species as well. Walking to school every day we cross a parade of leafcutter ants, which are constantly parading their leaves over their heads in the same part of the sidewalk daily. 

My school is partially open to nature, the roof being unique in the way that is made up of many different materials, while also being open to the sky in parts. The sounds of birds chirping and the rain falling are common sound effects during classes. At night, to keep the airflow going, we keep our windows open and are often awoken to motorcycles racing by our house, the honk of a car horn, or the bark of an excited neighbor dog. 

The smells of food surround you as you walk along the main streets, primarily empanadas and arroz con pollo. The trash system here is much more open, as instead of setting outside a trash can, you place your individual trash in an open metal grid box, so passing these often leads to the smell of food being drowned out by something less appealing. 

Overall, I have been loving my experience here, and I am excited to share more about my adventures in the future!