As a part of the Tropical Diseases, Environmental Change, and Human Health semester, we spent two weeks in San Jose with a program at the Costa Rica Language Academy (CLRA). My favorite activity was when my class of four walked around San Jose with our professor. We walked from the school to the downtown part of the city where there are a variety of parks, museums, and statues.
The first park we stopped at, Parque Nacional, had a statue of Costa Rican people fighting the conquistadors who invaded in the country. I enjoyed hearing the subtle language difference between colonizers and conquistadors based on if the country was the invaders or the invaded, which was a new concept for me. From there, we went to el Mercado Central. We walked throughout the market absorbing all the foods, plants, artesian crafts, and house hold goods while our professor explained what many of the products were.
In the market, we stopped at booths with plant medicine and spoke to the owners/healers about their recommendations for certain aliments. This was a great way to both practice Spanish and learn more about medicinal plants.We learned about herb combinations to cure everything from headaches to stomachaches to the common cold.
Streets of San Jose
This was important to me because I feel like one can’t have a comprehensive understanding of medicine without learning about natural plant medicine. I liked being able to interact with Ticos, the environment, and medicine in this way. It definitely brought many aspects of the semester together. Because my professor is so well versed in medicinal plant use, learning about her remedies that contrasted or coincided with different healers throughout the market was fascinating!
After the market, we walked through one of the main squares to a vegetarian restaurant where we ate food that was different from the traditional Costa Rican cuisine we have been eating for most of the semester. I loved being able to talk to our professor in an informal environment.
Restaurant in San Jose
When we left the restaurant to walk a little bit more, a few people on the street recognized our professor and stopped to chat with us. I liked being able to meet and talk with a variety of people in the community.
Rounding out our afternoon, we ordered churros filled with dulce de leche. They were completely awesome.
Amazing Churro!
One of the main reasons I enjoyed this outing so much was because I did not feel as much of a tourist as I normally feel. We were in a small group and able to joke around and have fun while learning about what we were seeing from someone who actually lives there. I am excited for the last part of our trip when we venture back to San Jose so we can return to areas downtown and hopefully go to the museums and national monuments we didn’t have time to visit.