“Go to foreign countries and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home.” -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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!

“Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.”

Today I went to the artisan market in down town San Jose with my friend Jamie. Jamie LOVES to shop. She bought her third noise-making wooden frog… that is the kind of shopper Jamie is and it is so fun to give her a hard time about it. I, on the other hand, am super practical, but I do love to buy gifts for people. I finished shopping for Josh, my wonderful little brother who I actually miss a lot, today!

The artisan market is an experience it itself. It is almost 100 little shops (they are numbered) all in one long line in front of the National Museum. Many of them have the exact same things, but it is fun to shop for Costa Rican souvenirs, postcards, and things that are probably made in China but they market as Costa Rican. You also get to barter over 50 cents. It’s all part of the fun.

The best part of my day was when I was bartering for Josh’s pocket knife (I’m positive he doesn’t read this, so I’m not ruining any surprise) and the man told me my Spanish was very good and he could understand everything I said. Granted, we only spoke for a few minutes, but it was such a feeling of accomplishment. My Spanish really must be improving because while I was eating dinner and talking to Karol, my host sister, my abuela told me the same thing! It is so exciting! 

Q&A

Q: Aren't there any bugs??
Also, what is the drinking age? Just making sure you are legal... Remember, uncle Scott said he doesn't want to have to bail you out!! :)

A: There are LOTS of bugs… but either I smell or something because I never get bitten! Its also possible that the smell of the hammocks deterred them. Lets just say I’m not sure if those things have been washed, ever.

Secondly, I bought alcohol at the grocery store for the second time in my life today (Paul, read no further). The first time was when I was 14 and you sent me to the store in Germany to buy wine… just to see if they’d let me (they did). Today it was legal, I bought some typical Costa Rican alcohol for Paul. So don’t worry, uncle Scott, I won’t need you… unless I manage to get into some other kind of trouble!

Q: Sounds like a great time Hannah. save some of the fun 4 when we visit.
love, Gail

A:  There is more than enough fun to last for when you guys are here, Gail! I am so excited for you  to come because I have heard so many great things about Arenal! It is going to be a blast.