Getting Ready for your Trip

It is recommended that you have your passport ready and valid for your length of stay. A passport will allow up to a 90 day visit to Costa Rica. Also, it makes money exchange and identification straight-forward. The law requires that you carry your passport at all times, so make a few copies of at least the photo page to carry with you during your stay. Keep your original passport in a safe place once in Costa Rica.

CLOTHING: Dress in Costa Rica is informal. Costa Ricans are aware of fashion, but very seldom go to extremes. It is a good idea to wear lightweight clothing and a jacket or sweater so these can be removed when the temperature rises. An umbrella may also come in handy. Comfortable walking shoes, tennis shoes or thongs are suggested. You might need a bathrobe for your home stay. During the dry season it usually gets chilly in the evenings, so bring an extra sweater or jacket. Bathing suits are a must. A small knapsack or bag will come in handy. Women: Jeans and T-shirts, slacks and blouses, a jacket. A dress or two for special occasions. Men: Jeans and T-shirts, slacks and sports shirts and a jacket. A sports jacket and a tie maybe. Toiletries can be bought in San José, but bring enough. Drugstores have a good supply of imported goods, but are expensive.
Note: It is a good idea to bring a few extra towels for personal use and for travel away from your host family (beach, rain forest etc.)

Teddy Roe, Alexandria, VA -
For starters, my experience was excellent. My three instructors excelled in all of the points covered in the questionnaire: punctuality, sense of humor, patience, self-assuredness, order, ability to explain items needing explanation, personal comportment, body language, use of the white-board, etc., etc.  In truth, I don’t think I could have asked for more. As an advanced student, I had a good idea of what I needed from my professors. And they delivered. But had my demands been out of the ordinary, I have no doubt that they would have made the necessary adjustment and delivered equally well.  Considering the long-dormant nature of my existing Spanish, I feel I made great progress at IPEE. That progress was made so much easier by the friendliness and professionalism of my professors. Their detailed knowledge of Spanish was matched by their ability to explain it. If I failed to advance in any area, the fault was mine. The classes were fun and stimulating. The professors were top-notch. I would not hesitate to recommend the IPEE experience to anyone wishing to improve his or her Spanish.”

FINANCES: The Costa Rican monetary unit is the Colon. It is best to bring money in the form of travelers checks (US dollars). It is always a good idea to bring some dollars to tide you over until you can go to the bank to exchange dollars. Don’t expect to cash personal checks. Major credit cards are accepted in most large stores or hotels in the larger cities. When you get to school, you may ask where is the best and fastest way to change money.

HEALTH: Public health in Costa Rica compares favorably with that of many developed countries. No shots are necessary to come to the country. Medical facilities are numerous and dependable. Many English speaking doctors and dentists practice in San José. Unlike other Third World countries, it is safe to drink the water.

CRIME: Costa Rica, in general, is a safe place. It’s not a good idea to expose flashy/expensive type jewelry, as is the case in most places in the world. Most crime is the petty type. Don’t leave valuables or personal documents unattended or in a parked car.

TRANSPORTATION: Buses are widely used and economical. Most taxi fares within San José are relatively inexpensive. Check to see that they are using their fare meter named “Maria”, if not, agree upon a price before starting to prevent any surprises. Travel by air within the country is adequate and inexpensive. You may drive up to 3 months with a valid drivers license issued by your country.

ENTERTAINMENT: Night life in San José is varied and will satisfy almost everyone. Theaters, movies, restaurants, bars and discotheques with live tropical music are abundant and lively even on week days. The National Theater offers fine concerts and recitals.

TIPPING: At restaurants, a 10% service charge is included in the bill. You may want to add and extras 5% only for especially good service.

TELEPHONE: From Costa Rica you can dial direct to most countries. To make a collect call contact the operator and reverse the charges. You may also use telephone credit cards through the appropriate operator. 116 International Operator, 114 AT&T Operator in the US, 162 MCI, 163 Sprint, 161 Bell in Canada. If you’d like to make a call and pay for it directly, this may be done downtown at the ICE office, Avenida 2 y Calle 1. All international operators speak English. These calls can be made from private or public phones. Please remember that all calls made with Costa Rica are time charged, including those within San José.

E-MAIL AND FAXES: As a courtesy, you may use the schools e-mail to send and receive e-mail to your family and friends only after the schools official business is conducted. Please don’t abuse this courtesy. Also, you may receive personal FAXES at the school. Business FAXES will be charged. You may send FAXES through the school’s office at a cost.

Michael Garbe, Monterey, CA

“Since I am a Spanish instructor myself and did not undergo formal instruction, this evaluation is mostly based on my observation of classroom instruction by the lady professors  Milagro, and Lizzette. Above all I observed in all two of them that they are very good at eliminating the fear of speaking the target language (Spanish) and in generally lowering the level of pressure in the classroom. Additionally, the use of English is kept to an absolute minimum, it is restricted to a word here and there, so that it is actually justified to speak of a total immersion approach. Highly commendable is the integration of the various blocks of instruction and that a lot of emphasis is actually placed on speaking the language although structure is not neglected. There seems to be a good balance between both. Furthermore, there is excellent coordination among the faculty members and material introduced previously is constantly reinforced. It is noteworthy that practically all the classroom materials were created and/or written by the faculty, including the text. Thus they follow the same methodology which is conducive to achieving the best results in the shortest possible time. I am firmly convinced that a student at IPEE who applies himself, will achieve a great deal more in a much shorter period of time when compared to a typical university or college environment, particularly when it comes to speaking. It is simply astonishing what is accomplished with respect to speaking at IPEE.”

ELECTRICITY: 110 volts-standard US type receptacles.

MAIL: Mail from the US or Europe can take up to four weeks to be received. The same is true for your outgoing mail to those countries. Packages can take longer, and many are held at the post office for inspection and taxes or tariffs. It’s best to bring everything you need with you to avoid lengthy waits and expenses. If you wish, you may have your mail sent to the school’s address during your stay.

LUGGAGE: If possible we recommend those students who must switch airplanes during their trip not to check their luggage through to San José, the final destination. Rather, your bags should be checked to each connecting city where a change of planes is required. As an example, a student flying from Detroit to San José will change planes in Miami. this person should check their bags first to Miami, claim them when they arrive there, and then check their luggage to San José. There is nothing worse than arriving at your destination and finding out that your luggage has not arrived, and not being able to speak Spanish very well, to boot!

DIRECTIONS: It is very easy to find you way around San José. Numbered streets (calles) run north-south, while numbered avenues (avenidas) run east-west. West of Calle Central, streets are even-numbered and while to the east they are odd-numbered. North of Avenida Central the avenues are odd-numbered, to the south they are even-numbered.

Costa Ricans, however, tend to use familiar reference points instead of streets and avenues when giving directions. If asking directions to the popular mariachi bar, La Esmeralda, you might hear “from the National Theater, 100 meters west”. In the case of our school, your directions would be “from Pop’s in Curridabat, 25 meters south”. You might find this Costa Rican custom confusing at first, but with a little patience you’ll quickly catch on.