Wayne State College students will have the opportunity to travel with Wayne State faculty member Adolfo Cacheiro to Costa Rica for a month to study abroad. Students will learn about the Latin American culture by staying with a host family and traveling to different areas of Costa Rica.

There was an informational meeting about the trip on Nov. 7 and two students spoke about their past experiences with traveling abroad that interested many.

“I went to the meeting because I wanted to learn more about the study abroad experience,” freshman Rachel Brudigam said. “I am interested in going on this trip because I want to be able to experience their culture first-hand.”

Two students, Meg Osnes and Jennifer Lopez, who had gone on a study abroad experience in the past, spoke at the meeting about their personal experiences. Both students traveled to Costa Rica in 2017. Osnes and Lopez displayed pictures from the trips that showed many different activities and just what Costa Rica looks like. Meg included photos of the city and the traffic, which she said is always chaotic. Jennifer showed the audience photos of white water rafting, which is one of the extra opportunities that students can try.

The students will arrive in San José on June 2 and meet with the the host families. The students stay in a group of two or three with the host families, so they aren’t alone and can help each other speak Spanish.

During the first week students start the course work and at night there are other opportunities such as a dance and a tandem conversation program which are both optional for the students.

On the first weekend there is an optional tour and a trip to the Poás Volcano, La Paz Waterfalls Gardens and a coffee tour.

“I was inspired by this trip by a love for the culture,” freshman Michaela Cosgrove said. “I am interested to learn more about it.”

During the second week students will have the opportunity to take a cooking class one day and later in the week travel to the Arenal Volcano as an overnight trip. The students will then travel to Manuel Antonio to stay with a different host family. The following week are new courses that the students will start. There will be other optional opportunities such as salsa dancing, a movie night, and another tandem conversation program. Later in the week students will have the opportunity to tour the Manuel Antonio Park with more optional tours that weekend.

The final week includes finishing classes and a Mangrove tour and then optional tours on the weekends. Students will have the opportunity to travel and go white water rafting, hiking, or ziplining.

The trip starts on June 2, 2019, and ends on July 3, 2019. The total cost of the trip is $5,240, which includes six hours of undergraduate credit. For graduate school, the total cost is $5,506 for six hours of credit. The cost of the trip includes a multitude of items such as flight cost, credit cost, lodging, laundry, textbooks, and many other activities. To gather more information or to apply contact Cacheiro.