One of Broomfield’s own was given an amazing opportunity to study abroad last fall. From September to December, Allison Moon, 12, was able to complete her semester in Costa Rica with the Sol Education Abroad Program. Alli spent over three months in Costa Rica taking Spanish courses, traveling the country, and learning about first hand Costa Rican culture.

Alli Moon had grown tired of the daily school routine and wanted some change and to travel. She wanted to graduate early, but after learning that most high caliber schools would not admit early graduates, she decided against it. After researching her other possible options, she settled on studying abroad.

Her family was not as excited about the idea of it all as Alli was. They were a bit cautious at first, trying to convince her to go somewhere a bit safer like Sweden, but Alli wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country because of the three years of Spanish she had taken. Ultimately she decided on Costa Rica, one of the more developed Spanish-speaking countries.

After convincing her family, gaining her student visa, and filling out a ton of paperwork, Alli was finally ready to go. She left on September 3rd for San Jose, the nation’s capital, and arrived at her host family’s house a little outside of the city. In Costa Rica, most children do not leave home, so most host students end up staying with a very large family, but Alli was fortunate enough to stay in the home with only her “Mama Tica” (host mother), along with a girl from Missouri in the program named Emily.  Although she spent a lot of her time travelling the country, she spent most of her nights at her Mama Tica’s home.

For her classes, Alli attended La Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, where she took Spanish courses to help her improve her Spanish-speaking throughout her trip. She took three-hour block classes Monday through Thursday, essentially a full credit schedule in college. “We [students studying abroad] were all pretty close to each other and could hang out every day… It was a lot less stress and a lot more fun,” Alli stated, comparing her semester in Costa Rica  to a traditional semester. Her time at the college not only counted for her first semester as a senior, but counts for about all of her freshman credits in college, allowing her to probably go into college as a sophomore next year.

One surprising similarity between the United States and Costa Rica is the food. Costa Rica is very Americanized, and there are many American restaurants in San Jose. Alli tried not to go to American restaurants too much, but occasionally she would go to the Chili’s near her host home. Alli tried to eat the traditional Costa Rican cuisine her Mama Tica would make more often. Costa Rican food includes lots of rice and beans, usually seasoned with cilantro and lizano sauce.

There were a lot of differences from Broomfield and Costa Rica that Alli had to get used to. One of the major differences was the language barrier. For example, her first week there, Alli went downtown and noticed someone was pulling on her bag, trying to rob her. A lady ran up to her and started shouting in Spanish, trying to tell her she was being robbed, but Alli did not understand her and was very frightened. Alli stated that “Everyone goes through a few weeks where they really resent the culture and being in another country because they can’t communicate or get things they want,” but eventually it got easier for her to get used to the language barrier, but it was still an obstacle throughout her trip.

The sanitation in Costa Rica is a lot worse than in the United States. For example, people cannot flush toilet paper, which took a while to acclimate to. Their medical practices were a lot less advanced as they are in Broomfield. Many ailments are treated by either antibiotics or intramuscular injections in the rear. As a result, people are frequently sick in Costa Rica. Alli became sick around her third week abroad and didn’t get much better until she came home to proper medical treatment.

Despite the differences that might seem scary, Alli was able to have some incredible experiences in Costa Rica. Alli’s favorite adventure was her brief trip to Panama where she and other girls in the program went night swimming in the ocean. She also enjoyed her trip to Monteverde, where she went to the Cloud Forest and walked across hanging bridges through the rainforest, and her visit to Dominical where she was right next to Humpback whales on the ocean.

Alli changed a lot over her three months in San Jose. She’s always been willing to try new things and have new experiences, but her views of the world changed severely. After seeing true poverty and many refugees and homeless people, her views on immigration and border control changed. “We’re blind to what’s going on in the world,” Alli said, after seeing poverty with her own eyes. She gained a new perspective of the world that humbled her in many ways and taught her to have compassion for those in need rather than to turn her back on them.

After returning from her trip, Alli has been willing to recommend that everyone has a similar experience if they are able to. “Travel as much as you can. Try not to worry about the money. It’s always worth it,” was the advice Alli gave. Her trip was relatively cheap, travel and education was about $7,000, which is cheaper than a semester at most colleges. Hostels were about $12 a night when Alli didn’t stay in her host home, and she could buy a full meal for about $4 from most places.

Alli Moon was extremely brave to go on this trip. Alli realized after coming home that “pretty much everything [she] did took guts.” Whether it was staying in a new country that spoke a different language, whitewater rafting in class four rapids, or walking across rickety bridges through the fog of the rain forest, Alli was brave enough to try new things, live to tell the tale, and try to convince others to be bold and travel too. Alli’s reflections on her trip mirror her insightful mind and attitude: “The things we do really define how we live our lives,” so if you have the opportunity to see the world and try new, scary things, by all means, seize that opportunity and live your life to the fullest.