My first trip to Costa Rica was as an exchange student with AFS in 1984. We were a group of about 30 students, 15 from the United States and another 15 from Europe. We had a short orientation in Miami, Florida before heading to Club Campestre La Gloria outside of Alajuela.
There were kids from South Carolina, Connecticut, Minnesota and California. The European group was from Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
I came to Costa Rica with another girl from my school, which was really lucky because I didn’t have to travel alone.
I made some great friends that year but unfortunately lost touch after 1984. One of my best AFS friends was a girl named Carol, but I don’t remember her last name. I do remember that she was from Minnesota and her AFS home was in Barva, Heredia. I think of her often and remember the laughs we had in Costa Rica.
There were four of us in Cartago in 1984. A boy named Gustav, another student from Europe named Jacob, a girl named Jane and me. I remember one girl that was headed to Alajuela and another going all the way to Tilerán, Guanacaste. There was one student that was headed to Nicoya with a surfboard. I don’t think any of our group went to the Caribbean side.
I have been contacted by one student that was in that group as a result of this blog. If you are reading and you went to Costa Rica with AFS in 1984, drop me a line or comment below. I would seriously love to hear from you and know how Costa Rica affected your life. Have you been back since 1984? Do you live in Costa Rica? Do you use the Spanish you learned? If you traveled with AFS during another year, or are in Costa Rica as an exchange student now, please feel free to comment as well.
I think you have a typo on “Tileran”, it’s “Tilarán”. A city that is very close to the Lake Arenal.
Thanks, Marco. Unfortunately, I don’t always use a keyboard with tildes or special characters, so some of them sneak through.