My first impression of Costa Rica is that it is a warm, lively, and well-established country. I also get the sense that they value rest a lot in Costa Rica; learning that many businesses are closed on Sundays, I feel that Sunday is treated as a true rest day here much more than it is in the United States. While Costa Rica is in some ways what I was expecting, there are certainly factors of it that have come as a surprise to me.

Today, I was able to get a sense of many different facets of life in Costa Rica through our walking tour, our mall trip, and our meals. One thing that I definitely was expecting was the heat throughout the day, and the cloudiness in the afternoon. Something that I was not expecting, though, was for so many parts of Costa Rica to remind me of the United States in some way. On our walking tour, we stopped at a park and playground, and it felt and looked almost identical to either Central Park in New York City or Schenley Park in Pittsburgh. I also found that the mall had very similar stores to malls in the United States; although not all of the stores had the same names as stores in America, some sold very similar clothing and accessories to specific stores in America. 

There are many aspects of Costa Rica’s culture that I have found to be different from America’s, though. One thing that I noticed is that it is common for people to bring their pets–mainly dogs–with them into the mall, which is definitely not the norm in America. Another thing that stands out to me as being very different from American culture is the pricing and portions of food here. The prices are much cheaper here–a dish that might cost upwards of $20 at home costs $5-6 here–and the portions are much bigger. I also noticed that the use of motorcycles seems to be much more common here than it is in America. 

Ultimately, I have a positive first impression of Costa Rica, and can’t wait to learn what other surprises it holds!