Life On Tico Time

                “Tico time is a somewhat affectionate reference to the Costa Rican habit of arriving late for appointments, dates and even business meetings” costarica.com explains. Coincidentally, I have always lived my life on Tico time, the difference is that it’s actually acceptable here! Having lived in Costa Rica for over a month now, I’ve grown accustomed to many of their ways of life. To be honest, I didn’t have to adjust much, which showed me how much this country is for me.

Costa Ricans, who call themselves Ticos, live the pura vida lifestyle. Pura vida literally translates to pure life, but it’s so much more than this. It means hello, goodbye, everything’s great, everything sucks but hey that’s life, and so much more. In essence, to me, pura vida means despite all things, we ball. I’ve always tried to live my life like this because there’s no use stressing about the things out of our control. Everyone manages to be a little less stressed and a little more carefree here, which melts away my own stress and lifts a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t even realize I was carrying.

                I wanted to specifically write about the education system here in comparison to the States. For one, Tico time is very evident here even within schools. My Spanish professor often comes a few minutes late to class, and tells others not to worry when they are late as well. The laid back attitudes of our professors remind us that everything will be okay, we don’t need to always stress. It’s very refreshing in comparison to the US where punctuality means a lot more.

The classes are also a lot more discussion based and include a lot more student involvement than the US, which keeps everyone more engaged. I prefer this to the lengthy lectures in the US where I sometimes find it difficult to keep alert after minute 30. The professors are also very friendly and approachable and have genuine interest in our lives. We talk about our weekends and they recommend places in Costa Rica we definitely have to visit and tell us about their lives.

It’s really nice to have school be more than just strictly academics. It is such an amazing and refreshing change after my past two terms at Drexel taking Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Biology all at once. We also very rarely get homework, and when we do, it’s usually a reflection on what we learned in class. This is great because it reinforces my memory and teachings from class but doesn’t make me feel stressed trying to learn content on my own.

My classes have been extremely informative and eye opening because I learn a lot about not just the Costa Rican healthcare system, but about all of Latin America. I feel like in the US I learn things from a very USA-centric point of view, but here I compare and contrast the systems and populations of many different countries, including that of the US. Another interesting thing about universities here is how many there are and how much smaller they are than in the US. Within San Jose, where I live, there are 55 universities! I pass quite a few universities on my way to school, and they’re all very close to each other. This is very different to the US where universities are usually huge and sprawling. 

                Taking classes in Costa Rica is something I really needed after my consecutive years of learning at Drexel. Don’t get me wrong, Drexel does have many pros and there are many things I miss about Drexel and the city, but it’s nice to unwind and relax and have the classes guided more so by what we are interested in learning. Especially as a healthcare student, I feel like everything I’ve learned has been critical in my studies of Medical Sociology and understanding medicine from a social science perspective. Even if you’re not a healthcare student, I recommend this program just to gain an experience different from your ordinary Drexel life. That’s all I have for now, ciao!

Below are some pictures of my week!

BeReal time! We all made origami hearts during Spanish class for Valentine’s day♡

Our tour guide showing us different leaves and berries at a medicinal botanical garden! He kept a leaf on his head because it allegedly helps with headaches, and I got to munch on so many leaves and fruits I’ve never heard of before.

We went to Santa Teresa for one of our weekend trips and had to take a ferry during one part of our trek there! I highly recommend checking Santa Teresa out, we thought it was stunning.