Field report

Rubens Teaching Projekt in Costa Rica

People everywhere are very open and friendly and you always feel welcome. People live for the day and nobody makes plans beyond the current day. One thing I will definitely take with me is to enjoy life more and place less value on material things (Pura Vida).

March 2024 - June 2024
Participant Ruben in Costa Rica

Ruben traveled to Costa Rica with WanderWorld Travel to experience the Pura Vida. To better immerse himself in the culture, he took a language course in Costa Rica before his first project and lived with a host family. He then traveled to the teaching project in Huacas and supported the teachers at the school. There he not only improved his Spanish, but also went on excursions to beautiful waterfalls in national parks.

RUBENS PROGRAM:

My preparation time

I visited Costa Rica for the first time back in 2015 and fell in love with the country straight away. The culture, which simply lives the motto "Pura Vida", fascinates me just as much as the nature, which could hardly be more diverse. The language also played a role in my choice of country; I wanted to improve and consolidate my Spanish. Costa Rica was therefore clear to me early on as a destination. I actually booked the trip around four months before it started. This increased my anticipation, especially due to the choice of projects. The preparations for the trip were relatively relaxed; WanderWorld provides a checklist with all the important preparations. Any additional questions were also clarified in a preparatory meeting.

The first days

The journey to Costa Rica was unspectacular, the pick-up at the airport and check-in at the hostel went smoothly. I had three nights in San José at the beginning. That was very relaxing for me to arrive, but there aren't many places of interest in San José. The next day was the introductory event organized by WanderWorld, where I met two other volunteers and after a city tour we had a relaxed lunch.

The next day I went to my first project location, Sámara, to the Spanish language school (and finally to the sea :)). I received a very warm welcome from my host family there and immediately felt at home. The first few days at the language school were also very cool, you quickly get to know lots of other young people (surprisingly, there were also lots of older people).

The start of my second project (Teaching in Huacas) went similarly well. The host family was also very kind and took me to their finca in the countryside on the first day together with two other volunteers from my project. I had a good start to the project here too, I was integrated straight away and learned a lot, especially from the other volunteers in the project. The first two weeks in the project were used to get an overview of the local organization and existing activities and to think about my own projects. After that, things really got going.

A day in the language course and teaching project Project

The language school offered four hours of lessons every day from Monday to Friday, alternating between mornings and afternoons. Due to the small groups (max. 6 people), you learn a lot and quickly. The professors are super nice and helpful and very well trained. In general, the language school organizes lots of activities and provides support wherever possible. I always felt that I was in good hands and had a great two weeks at the language school.

In my main project, Teaching, I usually worked from half past 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., sometimes until 5:30 p.m. on days with afternoon activities. After the first two weeks, I developed some ideas for my own projects and topics and was somewhat surprised that all the ideas were discussed and some could be implemented immediately. These included, for example, math lessons for different groups, reading exercises with individual children or an Excel course for adults. I was also involved in English, computer education, sport, swimming and music. Almost all activities are organized together with other volunteers (usually in pairs), so you are actually always part of a team. As a rule, the teacher of the respective group is also there to provide support when needed. I also often babysat during the lunch break and played games with the children, mostly jumping rope, tag or sack races. Overall, it was very pleasant to be in the project together with other volunteers, the cooperation worked really well. The director of the project always made time for us and listened to us when we had ideas or suggestions, but also when we had difficulties.

My free time in Huacas

At the language school, I spent most of my free time with other people from the language school, mostly just lying on the beach, playing beach volleyball or going to a bar in the evening. We also went on two excursions, one to a waterfall and one to a beach where you could see the sunset particularly well. The highlight was a jungle rave on the last evening, which we went to with a large group of people from the language school.

In the teaching project, I spent a lot of my free time with the other volunteers from the project. During the week, we went to yoga on Wednesdays and occasionally went to different beaches in the area. At the weekends, we went to a national park once and hiked to an incredibly beautiful waterfall. Another weekend we camped on the beach. But often we simply drove to new beaches, each of which was unique.
I also found a beach volleyball group and tennis courts in a nearby town, so I often played beach volleyball and tennis. The hitchhiking trips were always particularly fun. You always met interesting people and we had a lot of fun, sometimes five of us in the back seat, sometimes in the back of a pickup truck and sometimes in the back of a tow truck.

My experience with culture

The Costa Rican culture was one of the reasons I decided to go there. The people everywhere are very open and friendly and you always feel welcome. People live for the day and nobody makes plans beyond the current day.
One thing I will definitely take with me is to enjoy life more and place less value on material things (Pura Vida).

My accommodation

I was very happy with both of my accommodations. During my stay at the language school, I lived in my own small wooden hut with my own bathroom. The hut wasn't big, but it was perfectly adequate and you don't spend a minute in your room during the day anyway.

During the teaching project, I tended to live in a shared flat, as my host parents always slept in their finca and only came to make meals during the day. However, it was also very relaxed and the fact that we had a Chilean flatmate meant that a lot of Spanish was spoken at home. It was also relaxed that two other volunteers from the project lived there so that we could almost always travel to the project together.

Why I love Latin America

Costa Rica is incredibly cheerful and hospitable. The people there are always open and helpful, you are never left alone. There is also a diverse culture that places great value on a high quality of life. At the same time, the nature is incredibly beautiful and you can enjoy rainforests and volcanoes as well as incredible beaches. I recommend anyone who wants to go to Central or Latin America to learn at least basic Spanish. Otherwise you will miss out on many great and funny moments with the locals.

My tips for future participants

I can recommend WanderWorld, especially for the first big trip alone, as it gives you a feeling of security. I personally didn't have any problems on my trip. However, if something should happen, it is more relaxed if there is an organization at hand :). Apart from that, the project descriptions were very accurate and the host families were well chosen.

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