EDITORS' PICK

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EDITORS' PICK -

Every year, as May inevitably rolls around, blessing Sequoyah’s campus with copious dustings of pollen and a posse of burnt-out teenagers, relief is close at hand. If you happen to be a sophomore, you’re about to embark upon an adventure that’s been described as “unforgettable” by past travelers: Sequoyah’s 10-day trip to urban and rural Costa Rica. This unique Field Studies experience occupies a mysterious place in the school’s lore: What should you pack? What is it like in a homestay? What happens if you suddenly forget all of your Spanish? The Barefoot Times sought to shed light on these mysteries and aid current and future sophomores when planning for their international voyage.

Deena Elrefai, Sequoyah’s Assistant Director of Field Studies, traveled to Costa Rica in 2024 as an instructor for Trip 1 and is scheduled to reprise her directorial role this upcoming May. Elrefai, who has traveled abroad extensively both as a teenager and with other teenagers, described her mindset entering the trip as “excited and cautiously optimistic.” Once the airplane touched down in Alajuela, a smallish suburb of San Jose (the country’s historic capital), Elrefai discovered that her previous travels provided additional richness to her time in the city. “I found that most of my attention, aside from being with the students, was also on the language differences… in between [Costa Rican] Spanish and other Spanish.” Elrefai minored in Spanish in college, and later taught English in Uruguay for a year as the recipient of a Fulbright English Teaching Fellowship.

However, the city portion of the trip is the minority; students spend the majority of their time in Cedral, a remote town in Northern Costa Rica. Elrefai described her time in Cedral as “really wonderful. I found them [the community] to be super welcoming and comforting… You definitely get to relax and open your mind and be curious. And I felt like I really had a chance to get to know them [her host family], which is really special.” Elrefai noted the lengths that the Cedral community went to in order to nourish and sustain Sequoyahn visitors, recalling many delicious lunches of plantains, rice, eggs, and beans en hoja (wrapped in a plantain leaf), as well as when her host mom braided her hair—see photos of both below.

For current Costa Rica trip preppers, Elrefai emphasized, “I think that like any Field Studies trip, you get out of it what you put into it. And so if you're willing to show up, practice your Spanish, [and] be curious about the environment, you're going to have a really great experience. And the more comfortable you allow yourself to be, I think the rest will come.” Also, she noted, “bring really good rain gear.”

One student who suffered the consequences of not packing adequate clothing was Asher Sasowsky ’26, who recounted the following tale: “At the homestay, it rains every night. Like, really big, torrential rainstorms, so when we washed our clothes and hung them out to dry, they never did [dry] because of all the rain. So I was always wearing wet clothes.” Luckily, Sasowsky’s overall experience in Cedral (and Costa Rica at large) was not entirely spoiled by his sodden attire. He acknowledged his total lack of expectations when entering the trip, stating: “All I really knew is that it was a foreign country. I had no idea what the landscape looked like, and I was really just excited to have that new experience… so when we got to Cedral, I was kind of surprised at how remote it was, and how it was not very condensed. You had to traverse a lot to get where you wanted to go. But that was kind of the nice part about it, because the landscape was so incredible.”

Sasowsky advised students to take advantage of Chalo, Sequoyah’s designated guide throughout the trip, and his extensive knowledge of the plant and animal wildlife in Cedral in order to expand their understanding of Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity. In fact, hiking in the rainforest with Chalo and a fellow student was Sasowsky’s favorite memory from the trip: “We were hiking for three hours in the middle of a huge rainstorm. It was really nice.”

Sasowsky offered one more piece of advice regarding the last day of the trip, which begins at 7 A.M. in Cedral and does not end until 6 A.M. the following morning, when students return to Los Angeles International Airport. “Prepare yourself for the last day of the trip, because it is absolutely brutal. You're basically going to not sleep at all that night because you're on a red-eye plane that leaves at like 12 in the morning.” But, Sasowsky clarified, “It was also really fun.” One particularly memorable moment on last year’s Trip 1 was when the students sang an exhausted rendition of the Sequoyah birthday song to a classmate when the clock tolled midnight in the San Jose Mineta International Airport.

Fun memories of his time in Costa Rica abound for Dean Adelman ’26, who was on 2024’s Trip 2. Specifically, Adelman remembered when “We were on a hike, and the ground was pretty moist, so it was very slippery and we kept falling. It was a competition to see who fell the most, and it was definitely a lot of fun. There's also a day where I just sat in the rain for a little while, which is an experience that isn't too often found in Los Angeles.”

But Adelman has his share of regrets from the trip, as well. Like Sasowsky, he described his pre-Costa Rica Spanish skills as somewhat insufficient, creating a lack of confidence when communicating with strangers in Alajuela, as well as his host family. “I didn't learn a lot from my Spanish classes… It [the trip] was a while after I took my last Spanish class, so I wasn't really fully prepared for the challenges and tribulations of a Spanish-speaking country.” For incoming Costa Rica travelers, Adelman suggests, “Try your best to talk in Spanish. I regret not speaking that much in Spanish because I didn't know it. I wish I studied a bit and was able to talk to people and just be open to new things.” Adelman vouched for Elrefai’s strategy of mastering a few necessary phrases in order to self-advocate and make your needs clear.

Overall, though, Adelman cited the trip as an incredibly positive experience, unlike anything else he’d ever done. “You might think, ‘Oh, it might be scary to be away for two weeks.’ But also that’s two weeks you won't be able to live again, being in Costa Rica with a bunch of friends without the watchful gaze of parents. So just try and enjoy it.”

Aside from trying one’s best to enjoy the trip, a few common threads were apparent among interviewees:

PACKING

Bring sufficient rain gear. This includes an umbrella, rain jacket, rain pants, and tall rain boots (ankle-length boots will overtop and fill with water). These items are available to borrow from the Fox’s Den!
Alajuela is very humid in May—pack shorts, T-shirts, and other cool, loose clothing to mitigate the heat.
Consult with the other students in your homestay when purchasing or creating gifts for your family. Multiple groups of sophomores who stayed together on the 2024 trip created a group chat to establish who was bringing what in order to avoid overlaps.

LANGUAGE

If you’re dubious about your Spanish skills, focus on memorizing at least a few important words or phrases. Practice them!
The fact that you’re an American who is willing to attempt to communicate in Spanish will sit well with the people you meet. They’re happy to help you develop your skills and correct you when you make mistakes, so don’t be embarrassed.
The more you speak Spanish, the easier it will become to speak Spanish well.

HEALTH

Practice pushing yourself (trying a new food, talking to a stranger in Spanish) and practice taking care of yourself (taking a nap or spending time by yourself). They’re both crucial to having a healthy and productive experience.
Don’t pet wild animals.
Make sure to communicate your medical needs to your trip instructors and host family.

Whether you choose to heed this article’s advice or seek out your own, hopefully you’re set for your upcoming Costa Rica voyage. Know that there are knowledgeable, fascinating, and vibrant communities both at Sequoyah and abroad who are excited to help you physically and mentally prepare for this trip. And to leave you with Costa Rica’s national motto: ¡pura vida!

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