Submitted by Laura Choquette on the 2016 winter session program in Costa Rica sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
This past weekend for our excursion we went to the city of San José and also the province of Alajuela. On Saturday, we went to the Museo de Arte Costarricense in San José. This was one of my favorite places of the day. We saw a room that past Presidents and other important people that were at the old airport met in. The walls told a story of Costa Rica’s history. The artist engraved the stucco walls and painted it gold. It was beautiful to see what was important to Costa Rica when looking back at their history on these walls.
Later on Saturday. we went to the National Theatre and took a tour of the inside. It’s one of the most beautiful buildings, I’ve ever been in. I could see why Ticos are so proud of this building. Every single thing inside had so much detail; it made me really appreciate the work put into the art. We saw a mural on the ceiling that’s also on the old five mil bill. It was pointed out to us that there were a few mistakes in the painting, but the artist wasn’t from Costa Rica and didn’t know much about it. Then we went to the Gold Museum. We got to see how the gold was found and how it was made. We also saw all the tiny detail in the gold artifacts. Afterwards, we went to a charity soccer match and got to see Heredia play. On Sunday, we got a little time to walk around San José before going to the Jade Museum. I went to a little market in the city where I bought a collectable spoon for my collection. We then went to the Jade Museum. We saw different artifacts and jewelry made by the indigenous tribes out of jade. After that, we went to Zoo Ave in Alajuela. I got to see some animals I’ve never seen before such as a sloth and a toucan. All the animals there were rescued and they promoted non-animal abuse there.
What took me the most by surprise about this excursion was how much there was to see and do in San José. I think I expected the city to be not as pretty because a couple people I’ve met here in Costa Rica have said that they don’t like San José. When I think of a place’s capital, my mind goes to my state’s capital: Harrisburg. The only thing I’ve done there is seen government buildings and museums, but San José had so much more than just that. Driving around in the bus showed me this the most and made me want to return when I have free time so I can see more of what San José has to offer. I think that’s why this location is so important in Costa Rica. A lot of the buildings there show the old European architecture. This excursion made me really appreciate Costa Rica’s history and art. It was really interesting to see it in person. I’ve never learned about another country’s history besides the United States before so it was fascinating to see how Costa Rica’s history had to do with the United States’s. In my opinion, this excursion is included in the program because of the history we learn at each place. In class, we started going through the history of Costa Rica and talked about things we saw in San José. We get to see what we’re learning in person. For example, what we talked about in class, we saw on the wall at the art museum. We also learned before we went to San José that the Ticos see the National Theatre as their own because taxes were levied when it was being built in order to pay for it.