Submitted by Scott Eisenhart on the 2014 winter session study abroad program in Costa Rica sponsored by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures…
Hi everyone! Greetings from always beautiful Heredia, Costa Rica. I have officially survived 8 days, and I cannot believe how much I’ve learned and experienced in such a short amount of time. I have been on several interesting excursions that I want to tell you about, so let’s get started!
On Wednesday, we went into San Jose for a soccer match. This game was different from what you’d expect because it was actually 4 mini matches between the country’s most popular teams; Heredia, Cartago, Alajuela, and Saprissa . All of the proceeds went to the Costa Rica cancer research institute. The game was incredible. All of the fans were cheering the whole time, and my eardrums nearly burst every time a goal was scored!
On Saturday, we took a bus into central San Jose to visit the National Theatre and the National Museum. The theatre was beautiful, and because of the amazing job of the restoration team, it looks almost exactly like it did when it was first opened in the early 1800s.
The highlight of the museum was the rocks. No, not the ones you walk on, but rather, the special ones found only in Costa Rica. These rocks are perfect spheres, and range in size from as small as a golf ball to as large as a ton. Nobody knows how they were made, because human technology at the time of the rocks’ formation was not advanced enough to create something so precise. Aliens, perhaps?
On Sunday, we went to the Irazu Volcano, which is Costa Rica’s tallest volcano at a little over 11,000 feet. The drive up was really neat because you could see the decline in people and development the higher up we went. At one point, we were even at the same level as the clouds! Once we arrived, we had a chance to wander off and explore. Our guide told us that on a clear day, we could see both of Costa Rica’s coasts. Sadly, the weather did not cooperate.
I had a really cool instance of culture shock the other day. I was walking to the kitchen for dinner when guess what I saw scampering across the ceiling? A little lizard! This completely blew my mind, and I fully expected him to jump down and start selling me car insurance with a British accent!
Well, that’s all I got for now. Be sure to stay tuned for next week’s update. Until next time, this is Scott saying ¡Adios!