Directors
The directors of my program were Karla and Katalina. They work of AIFS and they were amazing. Their personality is friendly and open so I felt like I could talk to them. Their English is Amazing and they’ve been to the US before. Karla is around (40-50). Karla is motherly and her humor is sarcasm, everybody in the program loved her. Katalina is younger (late 20 – early 30). Most who enter the office see Katalina first because her office is in the recreational area. She is friendly and has an understanding for the needs of the students.
Excursions
Excursions was mostly done on the first month. Every weekend we had somewhere to go. They were well planned out. The food, transportation, activities were all new and fun. The most memorable one was to Monteverde where we zip lined. Zip lining is best up in the mountains. That excursion was fun because first went to a natural thermal hot spring, then we saw the waterfall of La Fortuna, which was big and impressive, then ended the weekend with zip lining. The last excursion was on the last week of our program. It was a surprise as a good bye present to the student. We went to Isla Tortuga on a Yacht and arrived to a private white sand beach.
All of the excursions was included except 2, one of which is Panama. This trips purpose was so that we don’t have to renew our passports. The group went at a time when it was raining and there was a lot of complications with transportation. Unexpected events such as the boarder asking to check all of our bags or our boat driver being hungover and unable to drive us. Overall going through the boarders in a group of 50 is a lot to handle. If I could do this again I would not go through AIFS but rather the school (Veritas) or a tour agency near Veritas (Tico Viajero) which is only half the price and a much smoother itinerary. All with the same activities.
The Students
The other study abroad students were nice. Most are friendly as they are new too. Although I only hung out with a few friends, the others were approachable. The Tico students on the other hand were different. I did not have good experiences with them. They are art, fashion, and design students. They kept to themselves and were quirky. But also they were mostly first years. They would laugh out our Spanish and often saw the Americans as loud and disruptive. So because of this I did not make a Tico student friend. Although there is a conversation club where the Tico students are trying to be your friend. They are trying to practice English and you Spanish. The advance some advance Spanish speaking study abroad students made Tico friends but not most. A lot of us kept to our American students group.