ABOUT THE CENTER
A. Location and Hours of Operation
The Costa Rica Center is located in the Northeast part of Heredia City, across the street from the National University. The center is nestled in a nice middle class neighborhood close to all major attractions such as restaurants, the National University, the city’s central park and mail office, banks as well as shopping malls, stores and traditional markets.
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Directions: From Copymundo 50 meters west, white house on the right. Center hours: Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. |
Transportation in Heredia and neighboring cities:
Buses
Buses travel everywhere in Heredia and Costa Rica, run regular routes and tend to be on time. There are a total of four bus companies from and to Heredia from the most important cities in the country.
Most travelers do not need to rent a car to see Costa Rica. It is much easier and cheaper to just hop a bus and head out to the country. On major routes the buses are fairly new and in good shape. Shorter routes or routes between smaller towns tend to be on smaller and older buses. City buses range from brand new to very old. If you ever wondered where old school buses go when they are retired in the US you will quickly find out once in Costa Rica!.
Some Useful Bus Tips:
• You are not required to have exact change. Note: do not expect to be able to exchange large bills.
• When you get on the bus, you are required to pay. Certain long distance buses require the purchase of a ticket beforehand at the bus station.
• Buses have certain bus stops where they will stop. However sometimes the driver may be distracted. In these cases push the buzzer or yell out "parada" to get the driver to stop.
• On city buses get on and off quickly. The bus may start moving again prior to you getting fully on or off!
• On long distance buses you can store your luggage in luggage compartments under the bus. Make sure you watch at each stop to make sure you stuff does not get "unloaded".
Taxis
Taxis are found throughout Heredia and by US or European standards are pretty inexpensive. Your standard taxi is red. Orange taxis only work at the international airport. All taxis should have a taxi meter. If a "taxi" does not have a meter, it is an illegal taxi. Wait for a real taxi. When hopping in a taxi, make sure the driver uses the meter. If not, ask him to use "la maria". If you are familiar with the area or the meter is broken, negotiation always works as well.
Note: After 10 p.m. taxis will add an additional 20% to your fare. This is standard practice.
B. How to Reach the Center
Airline Tickets
After a two-day initial orientation in New York in the fall semester, first year students will take a flight together from New York to San Jose. Detailed instructions about the purchasing of tickets will be sent to all Foundation Year students in June 2007.
At the beginning of the fall semester, students will be picked up at the airport by Marci Chavarria (the Health and Safety Coordinator) and will be taken to the Costa Rica Center via private transportation. Before the spring semester begins, students are expected to contact their host family about when they are coming in and get a taxi from the airport.
If Traveling Independently
We strongly recommend traveling to Costa Rica with the group, as this will make things easier for everyone involved. Remember it is very important to attend the New York orientation. If this is not possible, and a student needs to travel independently, it is important for the student to follow certain guidelines so that his/her arrival is smooth and he/she connects with the group without any confusion.
It is essential that travel plans (including airline, flight number and arrival time) are communicated to both the staff of the Costa Rica Center and the staff of Global College Headquarters in New York prior to departure. Please contact the following individuals with your travel plans:
Marcenette Chavarria (Costa Rica Center), Marcenette.chavarria@liu.edu,
011-506-296-2946
Joann Halpern (New York Center), (718) 780-4321,Joann.halpern@liu.eduIt is also essential to communicate any last minute changes (i.e. if your flight is delayed or canceled) to both Marci and Joann so that they know when to expect your arrival. Thorough communication will save each of them a lot of time and worry, and will allow your arrival to be expected and accommodated. Be sure to call or e-mail both of them prior to your flight’s departure to inform them of your estimated time of arrival.
Students not arriving with the Foundation Year group need to reach the Costa Rica Center in Heredia on their own. They will need to take a taxi from the airport in San Jose. Airport taxis are very safe and inexpensive. The official airport taxis are orange. You will recognize the official airport taxi drivers by their brown pants and white shirt uniform. Avoid taking unofficial cabs, as they will often overcharge you. You can expect the cab to the center in Heredia to cost approximately $12 to $15. Ask the driver to take you to the city of Heredia to the following address:
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Address: Costa Rica Center Directions: From Copymundo 50 meters west, white house on the right.
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C. Center Facilities
The Center’s facilities include an administrative area, computer room, a small library, a garden, a quiet room during business hours, a terrace with hammocks, lockers, a large room for Community Meetings and seminars, and smaller rooms for Spanish classes and academic advising.
The library is relatively small, but has a relevant collection of student portfolios, textbooks, magazines, and a reserve area with relevant textbooks for students’ research relevant to the course content. The center is subscribed to relevant magazines and journals such as the Economist, Foreign Affairs, Current History, Latin American Politics and Society among others.
Students also have access to some on-line databases such the Long Island University library database (http: //www.brooklyn.liu.edu/library/) as well as to Questia.com. Students receive library access codes at the beginning of their freshman year to get access to the LIU database.
The recreational areas of the center are composed of a large garden, the student rest area, the community room, and the kitchen. The garden has nice green areas, palm trees and flowers. The student rest area has hammocks, garden chairs and tables, some games and an area for smokers. The kitchen is equipped with basic kitchen supplies, bottled water, coffee and tea, a large refrigerator and a microwave oven.
The Costa Rica Center has six IBM compatible computers for student use, two black and white laser printers connected to all of them, and a laser color printer available for student use at the administrator’s office. There is also a new desktop Mac computer that makes it possible for students to print wirelessly from their Mac laptop computers. Students can access the internet from any of the desktop computers or from any of their laptops through our wireless network. It is important to keep in mind that there is a slight degree of spottiness in the internet service due to local suppliers’ deficiencies. However, the center does its best to compensate this with 8 MB broadband service for students’ enjoyment. Students also have access to a multimedia projector, digital camera and a video digital recorder for their presentations and projects.
