Our walking tour today of Heredia showed the interesting juxtaposition of the Costa Rican locals’ (known as Ticos) passion for Costa Rica’s history compared with the way the country has changed due to tourism becoming their most popular industry. Lowlying, colorful buildings were mixed with metallic, small businesses selling everything from electronics to insurance were intermingled throughout the city of Heredia. Our visit to Heredia’s Central Park was exemplary of the people: their hearts lie in their history. Central Park contained monuments dedicated to Heredia’s founders, a central gazebo and a church. The large church showed how dedicated the people of Heredia are to their religious beliefs, where the pews were completely filled to the back for Sunday mass.

My expectations of Costa Rica and what I was fortunate to explore today seemed to match pretty seamlessly: multicolored buildings, tight roads, and small masses of people. The most surprising thing to me about Heredia was the graffiti. What is considered a contradictory art form in the United States is used as a form of political expression in Heredia. In many different places, I saw phrases describing what the people would like to change in Costa Rica from some time in history (for example, legalizing abortion). It was interesting to see this difference in use of street art compared to America and it showed once again the ways that the people of Heredia express their passion.

I’m looking forward to finding out more about Heredia and Costa Rica, both within the classroom and through the country. I’m also looking forward to seeing how my Spanish develops, as even in a day I’ve seen improvements in the conversations with our host mother.