El Mercado Central: Charley Costa

Today we took a class field trip to El Mercado Central in downtown San Jose. It was an absolutely incredible experience that redefined shopping in my mind. In order to get to El Mercado one has to walk through the shopping part of San Jose. This shopping part is nothing but a wide street that goes for probably close to ten blocks where cars are not allowed to drive. There are stores of all different kinds on each side of the street with people out front begging for you to enter their shop. El Mercado Central is located on the right hand side of the street about five blocks from the beginning of the pedestrian shopping area. It was laid out similar to an indoor flea market, with stores selling a wide variety of products from shirts to hammocks to shot glasses and even raw meat. I have never seen so much raw meat in such a small place before in my life. There were also just some simple little stands selling fruits and vegetables as well as a couple of food stands. The best part about the mall in my opinion is that no price is set in stone. It is possible to haggle and negotiate the price of anything, normally with a good amount of success as well. I know on my two purchases I negotiated for close to a dollar off each one. It may not seem like much but a dollar off a ten dollar purchase is a ten-percent discount. It is so different from the stores in the United States where as shoppers we are price takers. There is nothing we can do to change the price of our purchase. Here the consumer is the price makers. It is an interesting for the consumer to actually dictate the sale instead of the vendor.
While El Mercado is not something to plan a trip a trip to Costa Rica around, it is something worth visiting in the San Jose area. It is a fun way to kill and afternoon and you never know what kind of discounts you may find.

Parque de Diversiones: Posted by Jay and Jessie

This past weekend we went to Costa Rica's very own theme park. It was a day full of fun rides and Costa Rican culture. The park was filled with Tica families and young children. We spent the weekend eating a lot of ice cream and acting like kids. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed ourselves.

As disappointed as we were to be missing out on the hiking, rain and bugs, we had a GREAT time nonetheless.~ Jessie y Jay :)

InBio Biodiverstiy Park

The students enjoyed an outing to a local biodiversity park a few days ago, and I wanted to post some pictures of our experience. The park is just outside of San Jose and is designed to educate visitors about the four main climate areas in Costa Rica and the fauna and flora in each. All of the national parks and reserves are showcased, and many animals (sloths, birds, caimans, iguanas, turtles, and deer) roam the grounds, while others are behind glass--snakes and tarantulas. A petting zoo was popular with some of our group as was the maze. One of the most interesting exhibits is the Sustainable House, which uses solar and wind power to run nearly everything in the house. All in all, this was a good introduction to the many ways Costa Rica is working hard to maintain and protect its biodiversity.

Journal Post from GST class

This journal excerpt is posted with permission of the the author, Charley Costa.

"I think it is safe to say that every student here recognizes that being in Costa Rica is an experience in itself. At the same time it is very easy to not take full advantage of the experience we have been given. We are in a country where so much is different from our country. There is so much to learn, see and do that it could keep us busy for the entire four month span. We all know this, yet how many of us are truly acting like this is a once in a lifetime experience? Many of us, myself included, spend an unbelievable amount of time on our computers. Skype, Email, Facebook and for that matter the internet in general make it so easy to stay in touch with our world at home that we don't cut the strings that are holding us back from discovering a whole new world (and yes, I realize that this is a cheesy song from Aladdin, but I feel it applies here). Life is truly what you make it, and we have been given a chance to make our lives much more interesting while broadening our horizons. We have been given this great opportunity and there is no question that in order to make it the best experience possible we need to go out and make this experience all it can be. There will always be things in life that will happen to us. Some of these things we can control while others are out of our control. What we do in these situations allows us to gain experience and become wiser and different people for the future."

El Museo De Los Ninos

The Children's Museum was a great trip! All the exhibits were extremely interactive. Our favorite exhibit was probably the earthquake simulation. We got to stand on a platform and experience what it would feel like to be in the middle of a level 3/4 earthquake. Also in the exhibit room with the earthquake simulation were different areas where we were all able to be archeologists and dig for treasures.
All the plaques describing the exhibits were in Spanish. Reading the plaques helped all of us increase our vocabulary greatly! There was an exhibit on the history of Costa Rica where we learned a lot about the indigenous people, the games they played, and the development of Costa Rican culture.
The Children's Museum is definitely a must see while you are in San Jose!

The Peeps in our Group

Let me introduce the people on this trip, because how could you understand our adventures without knowing whose doing the adventuring?

Ellen-from Cary, North Carolina, Education major and a member of the Elon Track team

Meaghan- from Boone, NC, Human Services major and also a member of the Women's track team

Charley-from Atlantic City, NJ, Business major and the "tool" of the group

Mike- from Phily, Econ-Bus major and a soccer enthusiast

Mark- from Maryland, Poly Sci and a straight out baller-ask him about "el gato negro"

Wini- from Chi-town, Business major and a beach lover

Glen-from Ga, Business major and a member of the Men's track team

Martha-from NC, International Studies and a member of a sorority at Elon

Heidi-from VA, Photography major and has lived in Bolivia

Jay-from D.C, Psychology major

Jessie - from VA, Elementary ed major and Business Minor

Jessica-from Raleigh NC, Elementary ed and wants to teach ESL

Caroline-Charlotte NC, Middle Grades Math, and can break dance although I've never seen it

Eric- NC, Elementary ed, and a tennis player

Brittany, NC, Education, she unfortunately left this Wednesday

Becca- NC, Elementary ed and the oldest student here and student teaching in CR

Me (Zack)- NA, Spanish and a member of the "tingo" constituency

Professor Lyday-Lee- originally from East Tennesee, professor at Elon for many years


Together we make-up Elon's 2009 spring semester in San Jose

Two weeks later . . .

We're a little behind on our blog, but here are a few updates about what we've been doing. The students are VERY busy with classes and getting settled in with their Tico families. The first two weeks are always hectic: getting used to a new schedule, new language, new friends, and new food. On Feb. 1, we took a day trip to Volcan Irazu, Cartago, and Orosi, and then came back to Mesoamerica and watched the Superbowl. After a busy first weekend, the second weekend brought with it our first roadtrip: el Parque Nacional de Manuel Antonio. We journeyed for four hours on our tour bus, with our wonderful driver, Ricardo, to the Pacific coast. Even though Manuel Antonio is only about 100 miles away, travel is different in Costa Rica--no interstate highways. Instead we drove up and down the hills, through beautiful farming communities, and eventually into the town of Quepos, where we stopped for lunch. An hour later, we were checking into the Hotel Karahe for our introduction to Pacific Costa Rican culture.

Over the weekend, we all enjoyed the gorgeous sunsets, the warm ocean, and an early walk through the park to see lots of animals (Howler, Cappucin, and Squirrel monkeys; two and three-toed sloths; bats; lizards; bugs; but fortunately, no snakes). Some of the students opted to explore the park more while others headed off for horseback riding, siestas in the hotel hammocks, a swim in the pool, practicing their Spanish at the markets, or just lazing on the beach.

We reluctantly left the beach after a relaxing weekend, sad to say goodbye, knowing that a week of challenging schoolwork was ahead of us. Last Thursday, we went as a group to the Museo Nacional to learn more about Costa Rican and Josefina history. We saw an interesting art exhibit on the pulperias (general stores) that are common in Costa Rica, but also are disappearing (just like the general stores in the US). After lunch several of the students left for a weekend trip to the Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo, where most of the other students joined them the next day. I think this coming weekend will be a rest break for most of us!

This week we had a speaker on sustainable tourism in Costa Rica. Amos Bien is a leader in this field and runs the Rara Avis lodge, a research and tourist facility that has received national recognition for its sustainablity advancements.

All in all, we are all well and adjusting to life in San Jose, getting to know our Costa Rican families and friends better, and learning a great deal about the politics, economics, environment, and culture of this beautiful land. Stay tuned for posts and pictures from the students about their travels.