Welcome to LASP
Karen

After assembling from across the country in Miami we all arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica late on Tuesday, Jan 11. It was a short bus ride from the airport to the seminary where the students would be staying for the first night of orientation.
Orientation on Wednesday included time to get to know others in the program in addition to receiving information about safety and cultural differences to prepare for life with Tican (the name Costa Ricans call themselves) families. With little time to address every cultural mishap, students were encouraged to begin the exploration of cross cultural relationships on their own that afternoon when each student drew the name of a family and was taken to their new home.
Orientation week continued with a chance to explore San Jose in groups to figure out public transportation, the location of important public services, the street layouts, and safe route to ILE (Instituto de Lengua Española) where we began our Spanish language classes with a placement test. Friday, family members escorted their students to the LASP office for more orientation and an introduction to individual concentrations. This program includes concentrations in Latin America studies, advanced language and literature studies, and environmental science.
After the two and a half days with their families, students were set free for their first weekend of adventures living in Costa Rican households. Classes began on Monday. Approximately three mornings a week the entire group meets at the LASP office for core seminar. The core seminar covers a wide range of topics and issues that explore different aspects of religious, economic, and political influences in Latin America. Classes are generally conferencias, or lectures including question and answer sessions with different members of the LASP staff and/or a variety of experts and politicians in different fields from around San Jose. We also take occasional field trips to important historical or government sites.
In the afternoons we study grammar and conversational Spanish at ILE. Through a mixture of written work, classroom interactions, games, and other homework, ILE intends to challenge each student at their current level with the major emphasis on improving speaking and listening skills.
Students have already completed numerous assignments and projects including family and historical investigations in Spanish, a racial issues investigation in conjunction with their trip to Limon, and the research required for the final position essay. The learning curve is steep as students balance language, history and politics and a relationship with their families. They are thus far finding it a rewarding and challenging experience.