Jazz Cafe - San Jose, Costa Rica

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Spanish for Success
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We dug up old pictures from our vault, and came across this set from 2003. Photos by, Russo Mutuc.

The Jazz Cafe located in Agenda de Espectáculos de Jazz Café Jazz Café San Pedro

If you're a traveler and/or student learning Spanish abroad, venues like these are a great way to experience local culture. The Jazz Cafe hosts a variety of nightly live shows that supports local and international talents. If you have a night to explore the city of San Jose, and not necessarily looking for night clubs or dive bars, we recommend checking out this place.

On this particular night, Aimee, from the USA, was asked to perform belly dancing with local musicians. A great fusion of dance and beats.

 

 

 

 

  

 

In general, the Costa Rican people love to dance. The rhythm, or, 'ritmo,' in Spanish, is in their blood.

On this particular event, even belly dancing is accepted into the community. You can find several places to go and dance within the city or small towns. Explore the salsa, cumbia, and the merengue scenes.  

Share your Costa Rica experience with us, and be featured on our blog. Contact us: info[at]spanishforsuccess.com 

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Visit the Local Markets and be Immersed in Spanish Culture

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Spanish for Success
Study Spanish in Costa Rica



When visiting a new country, one of the best ways to learn about the culture is visiting the local markets.

The markets are usually held once a week, and in certain countries it might be more. Local farmers bring in their fresh cropped, fished, and butchered goods.

At first, it can be a little intimidating, but once you get use to the loud and busy atmosphere, it can be quite an exploration. If you're a person who loves to take pictures or videos, this would be an ideal place to capture some of the most intriguing images. A variety of colors, stories, and personalities just seem to come up.

If you love to learn languages, such as Spanish, here is a great way to practice and get immersed.

In the video above, we take a walking tour of a local market in, Turrialba, Costa Rica. The markets are usually held on Fridays. Rain or shine the buyers and sellers are trading away. Since Costa Rica is known for producing plentiful fruits and vegetables, here you will see some of the freshest and most colorful crops. The farmers seem very happy, as this is also a good way to catch up with friends and their regular customers.

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Adventure Tours in Costa Rica

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Spanish for Success
Study Spanish in Costa Rica 
 
Explornatura
The adventure company, Explornatura is a close associate of Spanish for Success. Many of the past students who attended programs in Turrialba, Dominical, and Arenal had used the services of the company.

The company has been operating since early 2000 and they’ve had a great track record on safety. The owners Massi and Ronald had taken the proper steps in order to keep the adventure tours running smoothly and safely for adventurist participating. They are one of the premier services that operate from the town of Turrialba.

Explornatura operates several tours, the two most popular ones are white water rafting, and canyoneering. They also offer other tours operating within other parts of the country. For more information, hop on the website www.explornatura.com

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While participating in one of the tours, our blog contributor, Russo Mutuc, had interviewed Massi and the raft guide. See video below.

Russo Mutuc – “Participating in one of these tours is definitely a highlight when you come to Costa Rica. I have known most of the owners of Explornatura for almost 9 years, and every time I come back to the country, I try and participate in one of the tours. When I first came to Costa Rica in 2002, it was the first time I had ever rafted and ziplined. I thought this was such an amazing experience, and it definitely got me talking about it within my social media friends in Friendster and Myspace. Living and participating in the tours, the excitement was flowing, and I was constantly posting videos and pictures. With the incoming travelers visiting Costa Rica, often times, these tours are a must in their itinerary. From the customers I had spoken with after, many had commented on the high adrenaline fun and excitement. Though some of the tours are not meant for everybody, I definitely would recommend checking with your doctor prior to arriving in the country and participating in any adventure sports. Keep in mind, these tours are in nature’s environment, and often times, nature or the environment is unpredictable. “

Red Eyes From a Flight to Costa Rica

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Spanish for Success
Study Spanish in Costa Rica 
 
Red-eye Flights

Many of you have probably traveled and taken the red-eye flight. For some that had, you know how it feels to be part of this experience. For the readers of this blog interested about the experience, see the video below and read on.

There is a reason why they call it red eye flights, and literally, your eyes are red after taking the flight. The term comes from flights operated overnight, and travelers arrive at their destination with fatigue and exhaustion. The eyes are stressed from lack of proper sleep, and time change.

In the video below, I took a red-eye flight from Los Angeles (12a.m.) to El Salvador and final destination, Costa Rica (9a.m.). For travelers arriving in the country, this is a great way to save time and possibly money. Take for instance short-term vacationers, taking this flight would be ideal if they really wanted to maximize their time in the country. Arriving early morning will give them a full day to discover. But the disadvantage would be fatigue. If the body is not accustomed to little sleep, these short-term vacationers might end up sleeping in the rest of the day.

With my returning trip to Costa Rica, spending 4 days in the country made sense taking the red-eye flight. I had more hours in the day, to take care of business. The first night, in the country, I slept for hours.

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Costa Rica Culture and Personal - Photography

Volume 1
Her are some images from Costa Rica. Russo Mutuc's Image Worx shares some of his photography.



When you come to Costa Rica, you will not only see the many breathtaking views of the cloud forest, volcanoes, hot springs, jungles, beaches, and many more. To truly experience a cultural immersion, get to know the local foods, music, art, dance, and the people. When students go abroad, to learn Spanish, they have the chance to be part of the local scene. Try and speak the language, and you will be surprised how you can discover the whole culture.

Russo Mutuc – “I spent a day doing a walking tour around town, and I got to know some of the vendors at an open-air market. Surprisingly enough, many of them are not camera shy. They were very friendly, and open to chatting about our different backgrounds. I also went around looking for locals willing to speak about their fashion style. I tried to capture, in video and pictures, urban styles.”

Some of the images shared are people in their element. We’ve posted Volume 1, more images to come in the near future. So make sure to come and check us out often.

Learn Spanish in Costa Rica

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