  {"id":53697,"date":"2024-11-07T21:33:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T21:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/?p=53697"},"modified":"2024-11-07T21:33:42","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T21:33:42","slug":"transition-to-costa-rica-for-semester-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/2024\/11\/07\/transition-to-costa-rica-for-semester-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Transition to Costa Rica for Semester Students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This is a guest blog post from our student social media ambassador, Kaela. Currently studying abroad on the semester program,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/go.augsburg.edu\/centralamerica\">\u201cNew Activisms, Human Rights and Social Justice\u201d<\/a>\u00a0that travels to Guatemala and Costa Rica.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>October was a month of transition for our group. We\u2019ve spent the last several weeks immersed in Guatemalan culture, lifestyle, and history. On the 11th, we made our switch from Guatemala to Costa Rica. As we begin this next chapter of our journey, we will explore a different spectrum of activism, human rights issues, and cultural landscapes.<\/p>\n<p>Leaving Guatemala, I can\u2019t help but reflect on the incredible resilience we saw in every organization, community leader, and individual we met. Despite a complex and, at times, painful history marked by conflict, these communities stand united, showing us that resistance and community go hand in hand. We participated in discussions about indigenous rights, women\u2019s rights, and the social and environmental impacts of large-scale economic projects on rural communities. The leaders we met were passionate about preserving cultural heritage while also pushing for economic and political reform. Our time in Guatemala was as intense as it was inspiring.<\/p>\n<p>While the country might not have the same recent history of conflict as Guatemala, Costa Rica has its own unique set of challenges and advocacy needs. A major difference I\u2019ve noticed so far is the presence of immigrants, particularly refugees from Nicaragua and El Salvador. This change is not only evident in the cultural landscape but also in the conversations we have about human rights and social injustices. While we learned about how Guatemala\u2019s history of injustice affects its people, here we learn from the perspective of those forced to leave and start a new life. These conversations add a new dimension to our understanding of social justice and human rights.<\/p>\n<p>Our group is ready to dive into a new set of experiences and conversations. The friendships we\u2019ve made and the insights we\u2019ve gained so far are invaluable, and I know Costa Rica will only add to the depth of this journey.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-53698\" src=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/11\/Fall-Group-in-Costa-Rica-2024-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A group of students stand in front of a cloudy scene at a volcano in Costa Rica\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/11\/Fall-Group-in-Costa-Rica-2024-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/11\/Fall-Group-in-Costa-Rica-2024-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/11\/Fall-Group-in-Costa-Rica-2024-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/11\/Fall-Group-in-Costa-Rica-2024.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a guest blog post from our student social media ambassador, Kaela. Currently studying abroad on the semester program,\u00a0\u201cNew &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":236,"featured_media":53698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-central-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/236"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53699,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53697\/revisions\/53699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}