All posts by jaara2023

Hola! Me llamo Jaara. I'm a Global Studies & Spanish major on the health & sustainability track. I'm currently studying abroad in Costa Rica in ICDS's Social Justice and Sustainability program.

Adjusting Back to Life at Home

It’s been about two weeks since I’ve flown back to Philadelphia from my 10 weeks in Costa Rica. I had terrible flight anxiety before I left back in January, but on the way back I was much more relaxed. My suitcase was still in Miami when I finally landed in Philadelphia, but luckily the AA ...

La Ultima Semana en San José

This past Friday was my last day in Costa Rica. I had to end my program a bit early, so I did my best to take everything in during my last week. I spent most of my time in the library at the University of Costa Rica campus finishing up my final presentations, and between ...

El Ultimo Viaje: La Lucha Sin Fin

This past weekend, ICDS coordinated our last program trip together with the Sustainable Development and Social Justice students. We visited Finca la Lucha, a community where Jose Figueres Ferrer- more commonly called Don Pepe by the people of Costa Rica- used to live and work. He was the president who famously abolished the Costa Rican ...

Exploring San José Solo

This week was a bit slower than others, so I took the opportunity to explore new activities in the city on my own. I happened to come across an art gallery across the street from Costa Rica’s National Museum on TikTok, and I saw that they offer sip and paint sessions on the weekends for ...

Developing Language Skills Abroad

This past weekend ICDS took all of the students on a trip to Punta Leona, Jaco. This was my second time visiting Jaco, but last time my best friend, Remiah, wasn’t with me. So, this time was a lot more fun! We started off doing a group hike/tour through Carara National Park. Carara is an ...

Territorio Indigena Quitirrisi

This past Friday the ICDS program staff orchestrated a trip for us to visit one of Costa Rica’s eight indigenous communities. We were greeted by Don Juan, one of the guides and distinguished seniors of the community. He told us the history of the Huetar people and how productive and self-sufficient their society was before ...

B

Bombazar in San José

This past weekend, I was able to go to an annual thrifting event named Bombazar. It was essentially like one big pop-up shop for different vendors and thrift stores to set up- everything ranging from clothes, shoes, accessories, to even old radios and keyboards and general antique items could be found! I was on a ...

Befriending Locals in San José!

We just wrapped up week four out of 12 here in Costa Rica. As I mentioned in my last post, I need to be more money-conscious so I’ve decided to sit out on the weekend excursions for now and spend more time closer to my own neighborhood. Also, since I spend so much time with ...

Jacó, Guanacaste & Limón

Since I lasted posted, I’ve spent the past few weekends traveling far outside of San José to the “must-see” parts of the country. Our first stop was Jacó during our second free weekend, which is a known tourist hot-spot. The sustainability program students collaborated together to get an Airbnb five minutes away from the beach- ...

¡Pura Vida! ICDS in Costa Rica

¡Buenas! Today marks day 8/90 of my time here in San Jose, Costa Rica. In the last week, I met my host family and settled into our home in Sabanilla, attended the program orientation, visited some of Cartago’s famous (dormant) volcanoes, spent a day in downtown San Jose, and started our courses this past Monday. ...