“Costa Rica was an absolute dream. The people blew my expectations out of the water. They were more than just welcoming, they were kind and caring and so loving of our entire group.”

Going on this trip has been my best decision in college by far.

I was also pleasantly surprised with the hotels.  The staff was so incredibly welcoming, accommodating and loving to us and the actual rooms themselves were pretty nice.

COMM to Costa Rica gave me an incredible opportunity to travel and learn about a new culture, while also making friends with people I otherwise never would have met. I will forever value the experiences I had during our trip and the knowledge that I gained from the class component of 485 as well.

Costa Rica is truly an incredible experience!

Certain views, especially on the bus ride up to La Fortuna, were so gorgeous that I really had a hard time believing that people actually get to live here and see such a wonderful sight every time they go to the store. NOTE TO TARVIN: YOU’RE FOREVER THE BEST PROFESSOR AT TAMU. A LEGEND. Thanks for being so relatable, caring, and cool.

For future travelers, here are some expectations you might have. I will confirm or deny their validity:

Costa Rican food is probably like Mexican food.

True and false. Sure, there is rice, beans, and chicken. I suppose that is like Mexican food, but it is NOT This was an expectation I did not even realize I had; I expected spicy, flavorful food. Most of the food is pretty bland, and salt and pepper have to be requested (they don’t just sit on the table in most places). Expect some really incredible, exotic fruit, though.

Costa Rica is lush and wet.

It rained a few days while we were there, even though it was not the rainy season. Everything was lush and green. It was beautiful.

Sloths everywhere.

I thought sloths were going to be like squirrels or raccoons, but during the entire trip I only saw one from a distance. Same thing for monkeys, until we went to Manuel Antonio! There were a lot of monkeys there. Still no sloths, though.

My showers will be lukewarm at best.

False. I had perfectly hot showers every night, except for one night.