From stunning Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls, lakes and islands, Costa Rica is an uber environment-friendly country with a strong commitment to preserving natural resources.
Costa Ricans tend to be proud, friendly, and diverse people who enjoy sharing their culture and social activities with newcomers. Most international students enjoy the multi culture that it offers.
Costa Rica is the place of pura vida ‘pure life’, a contagious attitude of living life to the fullest. In fact, Costa Rica is the world’s happiest country according to the Happy Planet index!
Costa Ricans call themselves ‘ticos’, and students hear will often hear them demonstrate their national pride by describing something as “muy tico,” or “very Costa Rican.”
Ticos are known to be happy and easy-going people, always ready to have a laugh at a good joke. They place a great importance on friendship and loyalty towards their friends and family before anything.
Here culture, the family is the basic element of society. Many young people stay living with their parents even after entering college or becoming financially independent. They usually will not leave the home until they get married, and even then, they will try to remain close to their parents.
Let’s talk about teen life! In most Costa Rican towns, teenagers’ lives comprise of school, team sports, television, social activities, and strong friendships. Cultural and artistic activities here are only occasional in most places, and usually they can be found on a permanent basis only in the Metropolitan Areas–big cities.
Most teenagers have a novio–boyfriend, or a novia–girlfriend. A lot of importance is given to this, as demonstrated by the long hours dedicated to talk about “who is going out with whom.”
Teenagers here often go out together in groups. On such occasions they go out to a dance, to play sports, to a picnic, to the movies, to take a walk, or simply they sit together in the park and talk for a while.
These mixed groups allow for a much more informal social cycle. Parties at friends’ homes are very common. They usually consist of three to four hours of dancing and chatting between boys and girls.
" Its a place to be" - Martin from Canada
