I honestly didn’t have many expectations coming to Costa Rica. I knew it would be different, in terms of climate and culture, but today was a great introduction to the country. The community was one of the first things I noticed today. Especially with the music and dancing at the center of Heredia, I really got to see the sense of community present in the culture here. Everyone we interacted with was very friendly and welcoming, and we even played soccer with some local kids.

Even before our first tour, I can confidently say the coffee here is amazing. I did have high expectations, and the coffee met them and more. Our host parents first referred to it as a special drink in their house, and they have a lot of it. Can confirm, 11/10. It was also interesting seeing the local coffee in corner stores. In the US we regard Costa Rican coffee as better and thus more expensive. But in one corner store, I saw bags from Cafe Britt on a shelf just like any other coffee. I also saw a lot of orange and carrot juice which was a little weird from a US perspective. The other fruit juices I’ve had so far have been insanely good, they’re all super light and refreshing.

It’s fun seeing all the advertisements and signs in Spanish and hearing everyone speak it. The little high pitched “Hola!”s we can hear from little kids is adorable. The language barrier is definitely present with our host family, but its manageable and fun to try and overcome. My host mom speaks no English, and my host dad speaks about as much English as I speak Spanish so it’s fun to learn Spanish from them while teaching them some English. So far we’ve been able to communicate pretty well.

Shoutout to Don Jose for being the goat.