1. 水果
There’s no other way to put it… fruit is just better in 哥斯达黎加. 浆果, 西瓜, pineapple… the one exception I found was apples, 但我来自华盛顿州, 所以这不是一场公平的战斗. 我给你的建议? 第一个, 尽可能尝试每一种新的水果, even the ones that look like alien egg sacs (they taste way better than they look, 你们——我保证). Find a tropical or 哥斯达黎加n fruit reference guide or bucket list, and commit yourself to trying them all at least once! I used a poster in the CEA San José office as my guide. 第二，试一下所有的果汁和
batidos (冰沙/奶昔)你可以! During my semester abroad, I lived in Barrio Cordoba, and there was
batido stand there named Juguismo (~ 20 min. 从Veritas步行)…强烈推荐! I got my lunch there just about every day my entire last month. Third, learn different ways to prepare and enjoy your favorites! 我真的很喜欢
guanabana (刺果番荔枝, 在美国), and I played around with different milkshake recipes in the CEA San José office a few times.
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Batidos en agua - Two of my favorite fruits for smoothies were 瓜 (哈密瓜)和 桑迪亚 (西瓜).
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2. 气候
如果你还不知道的话, there are two major components that influence the weather in 哥斯达黎加. 第一个, the annual seasons -- and there are two, not four. The dry season (don’t be fooled; there’s still rain) is the first few months of the year, and the wet season (there’s still sunshine; but yes, 剩下的就是更多的雨. 第二个因素是海拔, 在任何一天, you’ll find notably different temperatures in the mountains versus on the beach. 我的建议? Take advantage of both, as much as possible. Most spend a lot of time on the beach, 但我却恰恰相反, and I wish I’d spent just a smidge more time soaking up sunshine. 也就是说, my favorite things to do included hiking in the mountains and swimming in the freshwater waterfalls (don’t ask why; I just have a weird thing about saltwater). So don’t let yourself be too swayed by the siren call of the shore… there are gems in the rainforest as well!
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Hiking a little mountain trail we found in Guanacaste - we found a waterfall to swim in a short distance in!
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3. 语言沉浸 & 本地连接
It's a cliché regret to have, and that only makes it more painful. I wish I had spent more time building relationships with locals, and by extension practicing and developing my language skills with native speakers. 我感到害羞和尴尬, 但现在, I’m more embarrassed that I didn’t take full advantage of the opportunity than succumbing to the awkwardness I felt facing a language barrier. Think about it this way: You’re at school at home, in the cafeteria or common area. You automatically sit with your friends, probably the same group of friends at the same table. 最有可能的, you won’t reach out to international students to invite or include them, since it's just not a part of your routine. If they were to approach you, however, you’d be welcoming and kind. Just reframe that situation with yourself as the international student (because that’s exactly who you are when you’re abroad). That initial contact can seem scary, but it’s almost always very worth it. I didn’t start developing these connections until the last of three months in 哥斯达黎加, 这是我最大的遗憾之一. 不过，迟做总比不做好!
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| My theology courses were small and towards the end of the semester, we'd go to local cafes for class rather than the actual classroom a lot of the time. |
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