The day started like every other day in Costa Rica, a hauntingly beautiful place I will call “home” for 4 weeks: getting up early, having a typical Costa Rican breakfast (gallo pinto with scrumbled eggs), getting ready for school and taking the bus to the university campus.

Mr Milton started his lesson early, and he talked about electricity in Costa Rica, where only one provider has a monopoly on this extremely important source of energy and has - naturally – no intentions to change this situation any time soon. Mr Milton explained to us that electricity in Costa Rica is like „a free tiger fighting against a tied donkey“ (whereas the first was meant to be ICE, the later being other companies). After that discussion we watched “the story of stuff“, a film meant to sensibilize people about issues of consumption! It was very good explanation of the usual chain of production to the end of consumption.

After a short lunch break we went to visit Robert Artavia Loria, the chairman of the Fundacion Latinoamerica Posible in Panama and Costa Rica, Board Member, visiting professor and former long-time Rector of INCAE Business School. On our way to the meeting, we were surprised – like so many times before – by heavy tropical rain. Once arrived Roberto Artavia gave us an overview of the Costa Rican economic problems and solutions. Among other facts he told us that Costa Rica isn’t competitive about labor costs but that the real amount of resources isn’t known yet! After some critical questions from our side (How can we really bring about change?), his answer was not to be too idealistic… but to stick to the Pareto principle and focus on the issues that offer the greatest leverage (such as betterments in transportation).

My day ended in the kitchen of my host family, where we talked about what happened during the day over typical Costa Rician dinner.

by Anne-Marie Lambert

Write a comment

When envisioning the environmental context of Costa Rica, images of lush green rainforests, breathtaking waterfalls & gorgeous beaches may come to mind. The built world constituting Costa Rica’s cities and towns is generally overlooked and given little more than a passing glance. I wouldn’t blame anybody for this though as even the inhabitants of Costa Rica’s largest city, San Jose, admit that the city is in a state of disrepair or to put it in layman terms, “ugly.” The natural world here is so beautiful and at first impression, the cities tend to end up on the opposite end of the spectrum. Granted, if one simply strolls through San Jose, they are likely to rattle off a long list of maladies before ever arriving at a single compliment. Perhaps it’s the shear captivation of the world around the Ticos that lead them to disregard the roads and sidewalks that often serve only to transport people from one view of the surrounding mountain range to another.

Yet, there is a level of beauty hidden under the dirt, grim and rubble of San Jose that lays dormant, waiting for someone to discover it. Coincidentally, the reason for the utterly unloved state of most of the streets, sidewalks and buildings was revealed to me by Senor Roberto Artavia to be a product of the Costa Rican government investing heavily in human capital while viewing infrastructure as something to be attended to later. But for all the havoc this stance has caused the streetscapes, there still exists some charm in the historical and cultural progression evident in San Jose’s buildings. The centers of many of the cities seem as if European architecture has been imported here long ago and left to weather in the tropical climate. It’s not far from the truth; the colonial occupation by Spain lives on through a handful of aged classical edifices.

I came upon some of these buildings in San Jose with a group of the other students in the INEX group after classes on Monday and was caught off guard at first. It’s not so much the fact that these buildings exist here, but rather their abrupt existence alongside such a variety of other architectural styles from across time. Rusting corrugated metal roofing buts up next to a 70’s brutalist concrete fortress, which is planted beside a contemporary commercial bank clad in zinc plating with strips of backlit plexi-glass signage. The ordered mentality of European cities’ architectural groupings seems to have fallen on deaf ears hear. It’s much more closely tied to the capitalist notions of free-market expansion, which if not closely regulated tends to foster an amalgamation of buildings to sprout up wherever they wish.However, I have to confess my admiration for the central market in San Jose. It’s far from being an architectural marvel; in fact it’s housed inside a sort of warehouse. Regardless, I was enamored with the maze of narrow passageways with a variety of wares displayed on every square inch. I felt like I was in a bizarre from a sci-fi show! Where else can I find a pile of machetes right next to petite pink dresses!? Of course all that windowshopping and getting all turned around within the maze of alleyways makes a fellow build up a healthy appetite, but oh wait, they’ve got that covered as well. So it was that we ended our excursion into the belly of San Jose with a meal served on a plastic tablecloth under fluorescent lights with various catholic statuettes and such adorning the walls. Mmmmm, I simply love to gobble up deliciously different culture, even if it may seem a little rough around the edges.

by Daniel Nowell

Write a comment

The day started early and again with a new experience. We met at the Park of Tibás at 6:00 a.m. –  therefore Fanny and I were the first people leaving the house. We tried to be as quiete as possible but when we wanted to leave the house we were confronted with an insuperable obstacle. The front door was locked with an extra lock and we had to wake up our host mum. Once we were sitting in our tourbus, a man passed by and handed us a drinking bottle filled with unusual guests – a small snake accompanied by a big cockroach. After freeing our new friends we started our amazing trip.

While heading to Rio Pacuare we passed by beautiful rainforests, the nice city of Cartago (known for its beautiful cathedral) and the active Vulcano Irazú. After splitting up into different boats, we traversed 18 miles of remote waters. The route was divided into rapids up to the strength of 4 and sections of slow waters. The flora and fauna was stunning, we were able to see butterflies of every color, dragonflies and birds, like the well-known tucan. We could also discover that many eco-resorts were established next to the river. What came into my mind was that it is a great way of sensitizing to the nature – but it is also somehow a bitter pill to swallow (tourism in such an untouched nature).

The trip, in every respect, was stunning. Just one thing to complain about: as we arrived at the lodge I had to witness how Spain won the Worldcup. It still hurts a bit.

by Daniel Zadra

Write a comment

On Saturday, July 10th we went by bus to Poas Volcano, one out of 8 volcanos that are still active in Costa Rica. At first, the view was rather blurry because there was a lot of smoke coming out of the volcano. But suddenly the clouds cleared up and we got an excellent view on the volcano with his crater and the rocks around it. After a few minutes we continued to hike through the forest to Lake Botos, an ancient, inactive volcano that is now surrounded by water and a beautiful landscape.

Our next stop was the Doka plantation, a coffee plantation that produces high quality arabic coffee. Furthermore it produces limes, mangos, bananas and advocados. 60% of the coffee is sold to Starbucks, the rest is distributed worldwide. We have been able to see the lifecycle of a coffee plant. The little plants are the so-called “small soldiers” and grow until they are 20-25 years old. At this age, they are used to produce coffee. Between October and February the coffee is ready to be picked by approximately 200 workers who are mainly from Nicaragua and Panama. After the coffee beans that looks like small cherries are picked, their processing starts. We saw the different stages of coffee production and the machinery used for collecting, peeling, fermenting, drying, roasting and packaging the coffee. At the end of the tour, we had the chance to try excellent freshly brewed coffee.

by Verena Tolaschek

Write a comment

Friday, the day after Fanny’s birthday. I can’t believe that the first week is already over. And still, there are so many things that are pretty common among los ticos which I haven’t experienced yet. For example, today was the first time I had gallo pinto (rice and beans) for breakfast. And it is delicious! As usual I met Daniel on the way to the bus station – but this time he was accompanied by David, who had just arrived and, therefore, joined our group a couple of days later. In class, Dr. Milton Clarke continued the discussion about forestry that we had the day before. He also talked about different levels of responsibility regarding sustainability, meaning that it concerns not only nations but also groups and individuals. We learned about the Bill of Rights for Minors, the WHO master plan entitled “Health for All by the Year 2000” and the Montreal Protocol.

After a very sunny coffee break, we had an interesting exercise for which we were split into four groups and discussed different aspects and policies of gender and sustainable development. In the afternoon, the advanced Spanish class learned about the real story of Count Dracula and, in addition, how to use the past tenses indefinido and imperfecto. Later I had a funny afternoon at home talking with my host mum before David and Daniel stopped by. With the latter I spent the evening working on our paper for Dr. Clarke’s class. As I was really looking forward to go to volcán Poás the next day I didn’t mind going to bed a little earlier than the day before to get a good night’s rest. іBuenas noches a todos!

by Katharina Reithofer

Write a comment

Today Alicia Jimenez from the Earth Charter Initative visited us at ULACIT. She led us to an interesting discussion concerning values and ethics. I really appreciated that, instead of giving a frontal-lesson, she really integrated us into her methods. With a lot of interactive activities she managed that we really got involved to the points that she wanted to demonstrate. We did an interesting activity about dilemmas we face every day and had to take individual choices. This way we recognized that our values help to design the society we are living in. Then we had to think about our own values, the values that are the base of our acting, before we had to create ethical principles in groups. It was really interesting and we learned a lot. Reflecting our own motivations that let us act – and discussing them with others – these reflective practice can help you define your own way of thinking and acting. It´s also important to keep in mind that there´s a difference between saying what values you have and acting confirm to them. I think that we really experienced the definition of education that the Earth Charter uses: Values cannot be taught, they are learned through action.

As it was Fanny’s birthday today, after learning a lot and experiencing a little earthquake, we went to a really nice bar in Tibas, listened to life-music and danced like crayz. It was a really a great day.

by Kerstin Schnoerch

Write a comment

All the eager students were at the right place at the right time despite new surroundings and a jet lag, well for most of us. Class started 9am with Professor Milton Clarke who is a very colorful character and a lexicon of real life examples. I cannot imagine there being anyone better to introduce us to the great unknown of sustainable development and hopefully show us the light at the end of the tunnel.  I think I am not exaggerating when I say that all of us felt inspired after the first lecture.  He also set a guy in charge of the clock, to stop him if he is not able to do that himself.  Thanks to the guy in charge of the time we were able to have a lunch break ;)

Then we took a quick Spanish test. No worries, the aim was just to get an understanding of our language level and divide us into 3 groups.  Finally, the most awaited part of the day arrived – dancing class. Although quite shy in the beginning the hip-shaking dance moves melted the ice quickly and the room got hot hot hot. Great fun and everyone is already looking forward to the next class!

by Madli Merila 

Write a comment

And so it begins. Sixteen participants have flown thousands of miles across the globe, braved US airport security checks, and are now cosying up to spiders for the next month, all in the name of the INEX  
Summer University course 2010; will it be worth it?

Yes, if our induction day is any indication. The generosity of the  host families, tireless enthusiasm of the INEX team and meeting the  other participants quickly convinced any doubters that this course  would be well worth enduring much more.

After a brief introduction to the INEX Vision Tree and a warm welcome  to the ULACIT university, Lorena San Roman, Vice Dean of the  University of International Cooperation, gave an insightful keynote  speech into sustainable development in Central America. We also heard  from our sustainable tourism tour operator, Horizontes, and from our  teachers for the course, though this session ended a little abruptly  because of certain important Football match…

Perhaps the most useful part of the day was the cultural adaptations  class by Eric Liljenstope from GlobalSolutions Group. A long-time  Costa Rican resident, Eric explained everything from why Tican men  thinking hissing at women is a compliment (my personal views are to  the contrary) to why the average number of times Puerto Rican couples  
touch each other across a coffee table is every twenty seconds whereas  in this situation in Britain couples refrain from any physical contact  at all! Surely the British experiment was performed in an old person’s  tea rooms.

The journey home at the end of the day was less fun, with a ten-minute  bus journey taking two hours due to the incessant rain and crowded  buses, but it’s all part of hustle and bustle of life in San Jose  Rain, car horns, and disappearing pavements will soon become a normal  part of our day.

Overall, a brilliant start to what is surely going to be a fantastic  program, and I can’t wait to get started properly!

Pura vida!

by Harriet Jackson

Write a comment

…over the Flickr Photostream!

Bring San José, Limon’s Caribbean plains, Cahuita beach, Arenal Vulcano to your home :)

Write a comment

Check out our new promo video for the INEX Language & Culture program in Panama: ILC Panama Video 2009

After long hours of sweeping through literally hundreds of partially great, partially amazing pictures taken by our participants this year, we picked out the best of the best for you to enjoy. Sadly photos and videos can only depict a fraction of what you experience in the four weeks of Panama. Keep that in mind if you’re thinking of applying. ;)

Click here to apply

Write a comment