Two weeks ago I went to my first class at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). Now that I’ve started to get into something of a routine, here’s the rundown on what a week of school looks like for me so far.
Monday
My first class of the week is Realización de Cortometraje (Short Film Making). This class is at the second campus, which I can’t get to by bus. The first week I Ubered to class since it was raining and it only cost about $3 (woohoo!). But, since $3 a day for each class would add up, I walked this week. The walk is 20-30 minutes from my house, depending on how fast I can get up the two big hills on the way.
So far class has included discussing and critiquing our scripts, forming production groups and picking which shorts we’d like to produce. I’ve been able to talk to a few people in this class and everyone has been really nice and helpful. On the first day, someone helped me find the computer lab and we exchanged numbers in case I had any other questions. First classmate connection, check!
tuesday
Sometimes before class I’ll run down and get a workout in at the Finca de Deportes, the third campus of the UCR where a lot of people got to run on trails and workout on outdoor equipment. Another great thing about San Jose: the weather is usually nice enough that working out outside is a breeze (see what I did there?) The exception to that rule is that it does rain often and unpredictably, which can throw the routine a little out of whack.
I walk to Finca 2 again on Tuesdays for my History of Communication class. This class so far has been mostly lecture and discussion. The professor is really nice and I can tell she is passionate about the subject and wants to make it interesting. So far we’ve covered several thousand years of early communications, from Mesopotamian tablets to the printing press.
wednesday
This is a fun break in my week because I get to take the bus to the primary campus and have my sculpture class. So far we’ve only had powerpoint lectures, but we should be going out to see sculptures soon, around town and in museums. We’ll also start to make our own sculptures.
How do we buy books for our classes? Some have a shared drive with the readings online, but for many we have to go buy physical copies of readings and books at a photocopy store. The professor tells us at which store we can pick them up. For this class we didn’t have that many papers so we only had to pay 285 colones each, less than a dollar.
Speaking of paying for school, I asked a girl in my sculpture class (my second UCR friend!) how much it cost for Costa Ricans to attend the university. She said without scholarships it’s about $600 a semester. The UCR is a public university so it gets major funding from taxes and is able to offer full-ride scholarships to many students, and the low price in general makes it way more accessible than other universities in Costa Rica and certainly the U.S.
My Wednesday class gets out at 1:00 so I bring my lunch from home (made by my lovely host moms!) and eat at a soda (cafeteria) on campus. So far I’ve been lucky enough to eat lunch with good company. The first week I was looking for a seat in the crowded cafeteria and another student invited me to sit with her! It was such a simple but out-of-the-ordinary act of kindness that brightened my whole day. Another student from the Grupo de Kansas joined us and we had a really nice conversation and even got her contact info so hopefully we’ll be able to hangout again.
On the Wenesday of the second week, I had lunch with my UCR buddy/mentor. The University puts together a program for international students that connects us each to a student for the UCR, so we know at least one person before we start classes. I met my buddy at orientation, and we’ve hung out a few times since then. She’s super nice and funny, and I’ve learned a lot about life at the UCR from her.
THUrsday
On Thursdays I have Guión de Ficción y Documental (Screenwriting for Fiction and Documentary). This class is my longest, running for four hours from 8:00 to 11:50 in the morning. We do have a 15 minute break in the middle which I’ve used to run over to the soda and buy some cookies to power me to the end of class.
The first class was fun, as far as classes go. We played a game to test our knowledge of story structure, with questions like, “What are the basic elements of a story?” and “Name three ways besides dialogue that the traits of a character can be revealed.”
Later in the class we were tasked to get into groups of two. With our partner, we had to write a one-scene script that illustrated a cardinal sin or virtue, such as rage or patience. I was actually pretty impressed with the script my partner and I came up with.
Friday
Guess what? I have no class on Fridays! I arranged my schedule so I’d be able to take more weekend trips to see the rest of Costa Rica and it’s always nice to have a long weekend. So far I’ve had chill Friday afternoons and gone out in the evening. One of the most popular nightlife areas for young people in San Jose is La Cali, short for La California. It’s a neighborhood full of bars and clubs of all sorts. On the first week, some of the Grupo de Kansas girls went out, along with my UCR buddy, her friends, and me. We started at Caccio’s, a bar with the slogan, “a world without Reggaeton.” Reggaeton is by far the most popular music for bars and clubs here, but it’s not my favorite. Caccio’s had a mix of older rock and more heavy metal tunes. Next we hopped over to Bahama, which has Reggaeton on the first floor and 80s-rock in the basement. I really liked the atmosphere on the bottom floor, very chill and like my buddy said, “you can dance however you want and no one will judge you.” From there we went to Antik, a 3-story club with a bar and lounge area on the ground floor, a Reggaeton dance floor and balcony upstairs, and EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in the basement. We rounded out our night here after many hours of dancing around 1 am.
Altogether, the semester has gotten off to a great start. I was really nervous before starting classes. I was worried I wouldn’t understand enough, or wouldn’t be able to make friends, or would be buried in homework. None of those things ended up happening. My professors are kind and helpful, and it’s easier than I had imagined to make connections in class. I’m hopeful that the rest of this semester will be just as lovely.
Pura Vida 