As a graduate student, I didn’t think that I would get the chance to study abroad again, so I was very excited for the opportunity to spend two weeks learning about social justice and human rights in Costa Rica over winter break. We started the program with an excursion to Tortuguero National Park, where we were woken up every morning by the sound of howler monkeys and ate 12 grapes at midnight for good luck in the new year. It was then time to return by boat and bus to our homestays in San Jose, and for the class portion of the program to begin.  

One day, instead of our normal morning Spanish class, we had two site visits to locations in the city. The first was The House of Mary Help of Christians, which houses a museum for Sr. Maria Romero Meneses, an important religious and social figure who was the first person from Central American to be beatified. The organization also provides social services such as a clinic for undocumented immigrants not covered under the national healthcare system, housing for teen girls with unsafe home lives, and educational and vocational classes for women.

The second was the location I was most excited to visit, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The court was created by the American Convention on Human Rights and is one of three human rights tribunals in the world along with the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. The court was not currently in session, so we were able to get a full tour and see the courtroom up close. While our tour guide was not able to disclose what case the court will take up next, all court proceedings are livestreamed on their website.

Looking forward, we will visit a low-security women’s prison and take a Costa Rican cooking class. I’m hoping we will be learning how to make Costa Rica’s national dish, gallo pinto, so that I can make it after I return home.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: Social Justice, Human Rights and Narratives in Costa Rica