When driving through the drastically different areas of the beaches and mountains today, it was hard not to notice the different atmospheres each place carried. Though I was pretty drowsy when we passed through the beach part, I was able to notice that the beach and surrounding homes are more rundown than the touristy rainforest area. The people around the beaches appear to be going about their business, while many of the people in the rainforest area are extra friendly as they are entertaining tourists, or are tourists themselves. Additionally, the beach roads weren’t quite as twisted and turning as the mountainous roads, nor were they as tree covered. 

Now that we’ve been able to witness four very different areas, my view of Costa Rica has widened to encompass a little more of what this country has to offer. Costa Rica, at first, was just another city, as Heredia was the only place we’d explored. San José seemed to have more architecture and a larger array of people, where as Heredia seems to have less young people. Monteverde seems like a large tourist attraction, while the beach areas are more separate. Collectively, Costa Rica has become multifaceted, with areas that are safe, dangerous, green, and rundown. Costa Rica is not one thing, except changing. Each area has parts that are beautiful, and inevitably some parts are ugly.