Happy Valentine’s Day, or Feliz Dia de San Valentin as it is called here in Costa Rica.

Even though I have only been in Costa Rica for two weeks, so many exciting events have already happened. Orientation was wonderfully helpful in getting me acquainted to the town where I am staying, greater Heredia, and San Jose. I think that I finally have the bus system down!

Well, here’s my room, guys!

A full size bed? Yeah, I think I can live with that!

Today is Valentine’s Day, and the differences between Valentine’s Day here in Vienna and back home are quite dramatic. Walking around today, I saw a few people waiting in line to get flowers, and a few stores had hearts in the windows, but other than that, there isn’t that much of a Valentine’s Day theme in the city. When comparing it to America, it is actually pretty ridiculous. To illustrate:

The first thing you’ll notice about the culture in Rio: people have a lot of love, and they don’t hesitate showing it. People greet strangers with hugs and kisses, show a lot of skin and are confident in their bodies, and have passion for living life.

Every semester, the IES Language Intensive in Beijing (as well as many other IES programs) incorporates a long trip for its students, labeled “Mobile Learning.” This semester, students chose between Guangxi and Yunnan, both located in (beautiful!) southern China. I chose Yunnan and I’m so glad I did. The Yunnan group visited some of the best sites in all of China, including Dali Ancient Town, Lijiang, The Three Pagodas, Tiger Leaping Gorge, and the city of Kunming.

Kasha’s Valentine’s Day Video