Pre-Departure: Costa Rican Background

After an exhausting and difficult semester, I have once again booked an amazing trip away during the January intersession for which I have had no time to prepare. But I am SO EXCITED!! 

For once, I am going to a country that was not colonized by England (ex. South Africa, India, etc.) but, instead, Spain. Costa Rica is located in Central America (technically part of the North American continent), in between Nicaragua and Panama and has two coasts: the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. 
The climate is tropical year-round and will be "summer" when I am there, consisting of temperatures in the 80's and 90's with mostly dry, sunny weather. 
Costa Rica is widely known as one of the most stable, prosperous and progressive nations in all of Latin America. Interestingly, it is a country entirely without an army, having disbanded their armed forces in 1949, the same year they wrote their constitution. Costa Rica is known worldwide for their environmental policies, being the only country to meet all five criteria established to measure environmental sustainability. In addition, Costa Rica is ranked fifth in the world (and first among the Americas) in regards to the Environmental Performance Index. 
Technically, Costa Rica is a developing country, which still faces lack of maintenance and new investment, with a poverty rate of 23%, an unemployment rate of 7.8% and a 4.5% inflation rate. Today, the exchange rate would provide me with 539 Costa Rican Colones for my 1 American Dollar. 
What is really cool is that the literacy rate country-wide for Costa Rica is 96.3%, because an initiative for education came with the abolition of the army. Universal public education is guaranteed in their constitution. 

History: 
Christopher Columbus colonized Costa Rica (spanish for "rich coast) during his final voyage in 1502. The reason they called it the rich coast was because they found vast quantities of gold among the native peoples. However, due to the lack of natives for forced labor, lack of resources, and lack of colonization by the Spanish, Costa Rica was unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and was left to develop on its own. 
Interestingly, Costa Rica never had to fight for independence with Spain. After the Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence, authorities in Guatemala declared independence of all Central America. 
Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability in comparison to other Latin American countries. However, after a very bloody Civil War that killed 2,000 people in 44 days, the military was abolished and a democratic government was created with a new constitution. The democracy has been uninterrupted since.