My professor asked us today to tell us why our states were the best and then continued to ask us questions about how they compared to Costa Rica. I didn’t know the answers to some of his questions so after a little research I compiled some interesting information:
Iowa | Costa Rica | |
| Area | 60,000 square miles | 20,000 square miles  |
| Population | 3 million | 4.3 million |
| GDP/capita | $23,000 | $11,000 |
| Flag |  |  |
| Motto | Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain (who knew?) | Vivan simpre el trabajo y la paz. (Long live work and peace) |
| Capital | Des Moines (The monks) Just a fun fact…. Las Vegas means the meadows | San José (Saint Joseph) |
| Independence | 1846 | 1847 |
| Time zone | -5/-6 (Central Time) | -6 (right now I’m an hour behind Iowa) |
| Average low in December | 12 F | 65 F |
| Average high in July | 86 F | 80 F (April is actually their hottest month) They only have summer and winter and they are opposite of summer and winter in Iowa. |
| Major products | Corn, pork, ethanol    | Coffee & bananas   |
| Wildlife | No where near those numbers | 500,000 animal species & 10,000 plant species (1,500 of which are orchids) |
| Life expectancy | 78 years | 79 years (and ranks higher than the US in health care) |
| Driving age | 16 | 18 |
| Drinking age | 21 -the US is the only place in the world with a drinking age this high -in Poland and Portugal there is no minimum drinking age | 18 |
| Interesting Facts | - Quaker Oats, in Cedar Rapids, is the largest cereal company in the world. -Iowa gets more tornados than any other state. -We pretend to be a travel destination: Cancun, Delaware, Denver, Geneva, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Madrid, Nevada, Norway, Panama, Toronto, or Wyoming are all cities in Iowa. - More than 1 million people visit the State Fair every year. | - Costa Ricans call speed bumps dead people - The constitution states that they will have no military. -They call Americans gringos. (I’m a gringa) -They don’t have to pretend to be a travel destination, this country is incredible. - Costa Rica has 7 active volcanoes.  |
Q&A
Q: How are you choosing your destinations? Did you set an itinerary before going to Costa Rica? Your journey sounds fascinating thus far! Enjoy! Kristin, David and the kids.
A: Hi Kristin! It is so great to hear from you! I was so busy before I left that I had NO plans whatsoever, but that worked out just fine because there are many students at my school that have already been here for quite awhile and are more than happy to share about the best places they’ve been. I have become a planner (I learned these skills from you and my mom) and my friends are happy to tag along on my adventures. We go on a week by week basis according to weather and what other people have said. I have a bunch of places that I want to visit on a list and 12 weekends to do it!
Your blogs are the next best thing to having you here!! They are so-o-o interesting.It is fun learning about Costa Rica-enjoyed your comparison to Iowa.Can't wait to get on each day to find out what you have been doing.
ReplyDeleteGrandma C.