Independent Field Research in Costa Rica: How to Find Yourself Off the Beaten Path Past Review
By Rebecca W (Internaional Public Polciy and Spanish, St. Mary's College of Maryland) for
Institute for Central American Development Studies (ICADS): San José - Field Program: Environment and Sustainable Develo
Costa Rica has absolutely radically impacted my life. I fell in love with the fishing island and the lifestyle there, to the point where I have altered my post-graduation plans and life goals. Costa Rica also impacted my cultural awareness, making me aware of my own ethnocentrism and better able to compare American culture with others. By far the most valuable part of study abroad is the perspective that you gain: it's not that you come back hating your own country, but you realize that we don't necessarily do everything better. First World life trajectories are not superior to their Third World counterparts, no matter what your professors and parents would have you believe. I'm not saying there's no point to higher education, but the ability to recognize that there are other, viable options that exist in this world is very valuable.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
As I have mentioned before, ICADS is very much focused on empirical learning rather than abstract theory. The lack of useful information presented can be frustrating, because youre used to having all the key facts at your fingertips in an American classroom, but that's because they would much rather you go out and interact with the Costa Rican people and environment, and then draw your own conclusions. It is very much learning on the micro scale; you won't learn a whole lot about countries other than Nicaragua and Costa Rica, but that's fine because you choose to go to Costa Rica! You also may spend a week studying one issue in one particular community; this is very valuable as it prepares you for your IP. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
ICADS was very efficiently run, and since the group was so beautifully small, you always felt the presence of the professors and administrators. I never felt like I was lost in a group or had no one to turn to. However, when I had issues with my host family the program fell a bit short. The family coordinator just told me to "work on it" and made me feel like it was my fault when I realized, many months later, that it wasn't. I know a couple other people that had bad experiences with their host families as well, and ICADS could have listened to us more. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived in a very safe neighborhood in a nicely decorated house five minutes from the school. However, those were about the only positives. I felt almost like a stranger in my home, as the family interacted with me only minimally. They couldn't be bothered to stop watching TV to leave their rooms to talk to me, and while the Mom was somewhat responsive to my very forward efforts to develop a relationship, she was pretty much the only one. My host siblings were flat out rude and exclusive, and when we had living space issues, the family would leave me passive-aggressive notes of things I was doing wrong instead of directly talking to me. |
| * Food: |
I had no dietary restrictions, but the food was delicious and in abundant quality. No issues there. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
ICADS didn't arrange many extracurricular cultural events or field trips, but they didn't need to: the classroom material already had us learning so much about the country's history and culture that none of us were dying to see the tourist hotspots. ICADS was also a very genuine program in the sense that we discussed ALL the effects of mass tourism, negative and positive, and so it wouldn't really have made sense for them to be promoting it by taking us around as tourists. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I did have an issue with healthcare but I was on a very remote fishing island that had abysmal medical services. I didn't end up ever getting it treated, but that was very little anyone could do about that. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
We took a morning Spanish class for the first 5 weeks of the semester in which we just chattered with excitable Costa Rican ladies for a few hours. Beyond that, however, ICADS essentially relies on our having a great relationship with our host families improving our language skills. Since I didn't, my Spanish didn't improve nearly as quickly as it could have. I didn't realize how damaging this was until I attempted to conduct 64 oral interviews with rural, badly educated Costa Rica for a month for my IP. This is one area in which I think ICADS could improve; they could be doing more to ensure our Spanish is steadily improving and not at a standstill. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | DO IT! I can tell you as a student that has traveled to many countries and been involved in two different study abroad programs, you will find few that offer more a more genuine, rewarding experience than ICADS does. The Field Program is truly unique in that it gives you the opportunity to be on your own in the Third World, conducting research on a topic that you're passionate about. Too many programs out there are essentially just Americans partying with other Americans in glamorous, foreign cities; if you're interested in real, nitty gritty study abroad that will absolutely change your life, this is the program for you. |
