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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential content welcome to costa rica aiesec in central america south what every trainee should know general information about costa rica climate education health political system economy currency people political division san josÉ cartago alajuela heredia puntarenas guanacaste limÓn nature useful information public transportation telephones public holidays shopping clothing general prices important frases what a trainee should know insurance salary what do we expect from the trainee numbers 1 2 3 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 9 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 17 18

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential costa rica gives you the warmest welcome for your traineeship we are very proud of you to come here and we hope you will really enjoy your stay we are a small country with almost 4 million of habitants called ticos we are in the tropic which implies that we only have two seasons wet dry of course you ll find lush rain forest but the presence of high mountains in the center of the country makes it possible to find much cooler weather within minutes which has led to the development of an extraordinary biodiversity enriched with species of both the americas massive continents we also have more rivers and volume of water per kilometer than any other country in the world except new zealand all this makes that you can live a sunny day on the beach a wet time on the rain forest and visit the caribbean in one day this reception booklet has been carefully prepared for you so take your time to read it and to inform yourself about our country this booklet contains detailed information about costa rica people our lifestyle and also about the wonderful nature that has always attracted tourism from all over the world as a vital part of the reception program you will have the opportunity to get to know local people as well as trainees from others countries interesting people as capable as you at the same time you will be kept busy traveling and visiting some beautiful beaches adventuring in rivers and mountains and others activities we are sure you ll have a great time with us

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential costa rica why are panama and costa rica integrated it may sound strange for two countries to be united as one in aiesec but there are many benefits that we can only gain by working together the biggest advantage for you is that combined we offer a larger social network that will allow you to travel more freely between the two and get the most out of two cultures at once panamá when social events or conferences happen in either country you will be able to attend those thanks to the bonds we make from working closely with one another 0ur active members study and work in aiesec at the same time most of them are in their second to fourth year of their university education and are anywhere from 18 to 24 years old it s important for you to understand that most of the students live with their families and far from downtown so their free time for aiesec and extracurricular activities isn t as plentiful as they would like regardless there will still be a lot of trips and fun with members we also highly encourage you to make friends with other trainees and utilize the social networks provided to you through aiesec we are nice people and we will try to be your family during your traineeship we will do our best to share our culture beauties and friendship with you at the same time we ask that you understand our situation and our roles as students employees friends brothers sisters etc

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential what every trainee should know as we want you to have a great experience in our country during your traineeship we ask you to take these steps to make sure we can communicate with you easily and measure your expectations and goals group as you are going to be part of cas membership subscribe to central america south ­ cas group in myaiesec.net by doing this you can gain access to general information and communication country presentations remember to bring typical things from your country such as music candy /food /recipes/drinks brochures flag personal photos and traditional food clothing etc we usually give spaces in conferences and special parties for trainees to present their countries to members and other trainees measurement as we re striving for quality services we need to measure if we are achieving that objective after 4 weeks of staying in panama you need to ll out the four weeks questionnaire in global trainee evaluation and impact in yes you know where in the middle of your traineeship you need to ll out the mid exchange questionnaire tht we will provide you and after your traineeship we highly recommend you to ll out the online post exchange measurement questionnaire that will appear to you when you log in to myaiesec.net please let us hear you that s the only way we can take that feedback to improve the service we give to trainees insurance you should come to panama already armed with insurance against everything sickness accident etc or arrange a 1-year insurance package here in panama for the duration of your traineeship your insurance should last from your rst day in panama until you leave the country.

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential salary if you have a salary it will be enough for your monthly expenses as you should know the amount of payment is enough to cover your hosting transportation food and o course to go out and have fun with all of us you must bring enough money for your rst month s expenses since paychecks come at the end of the month what we expect from you first of all we hope that your stay in our country ful lls all your expectations and more we expect you to complete all the responsibilities stated on your tn-form by the end of your traineeship remember that you are an ambassador of your country and aiesec and no one wants the company to get a bad impression of either this will a ect us directly because the business community is small and really close-knit so bad news travels rapidly if you have any problems with the company please inform us immediately so that the traineeship may continue its course successfully before to ight to cr be sure to have birth certi cate certi cate of criminal records document should be legalized by the consulate of costa rica in your country any document that is in a language other than spanish must be presented with its respective spanish translation made by an o cial translator 8 passport size photographs usd $500 for visa and migratory expenses

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential costa rica is a small country but from many points of view a destination that has plenty to o er the visitor such as educated populace and a rich natural heritage costa rica is the second smallest but one of the most developed countries in central america our country limit with nicaragua by the north with panamá by the southeast in the west with the paci c ocean and in the northeast with the caribbean sea the catholic faith is the o cial country religion however the right to practice other religious is guaranteed there are more than 3 million habitants whose native language is spanish the population is distributed throughout the seven provinces which make up the country san josé alajuela heredia puntarenas cartago guanacaste and limón the capital city is in the province of san josé the country s most densely populated province 1 2 3 1 national flower la guaria morada 2 national bird el yigüirro 3 national tree guanacaste

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential climate costa rica is a tropical country located between 8 and 11 degrees north of the equator it has twelve bioclimates three di erent rainfall regimes and many microclimates so researching its climatological conditions can be an almost never-ending task although costa rica is considered to have a stable climate it is important to note that di erent temperature and weather conditions may be experienced within the same day or within short distances due mostly to the rugged terrain of this mountainous country there are two well-de ned seasons the rainy season or winter invierno and the dry season or summer verano with basically one main di erence between them rainfall averages dry season runs from december to april and the rainy season from may to november good climatic conditions are found in the central valley which is formed by the cities of san josé alajuela cartago and heredia where altitudes range from 1067 to 1220 meters above sea level the temperature in the valley throughout the year rarely climbs above 27º celsius 80,6º fahrenheit nor drops below 15º celsius 59º fahrenheit education costa rica has one of the highest indexes of literacy in the americas about 95 of the adult population primary and secondary education has free access and it is obligatory for children between 6 and 13 years old there are also various centers for technical artisan and agricultural training in costa rica there are 4200 educational centers which are attended by about 24 of the country s population as many countries there are private and public schools the government invests the 8 of the pib in this topic there are 4 public universities universidad de costa rica instituto tecnológico de costa rica universidad estatal a distancia y universidad nacional but also there are more that 20 private universities view of cartago from south mountain

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential health the most important health indices in 2000 were · expectancy of birth 76.3 years · child mortality 12 the national health system has approximately 45 hospitals the social security protects in case of invalidity maternity old age and death during the seven years hdi has been calculated costa rica has been cataloged like an elevated human development country political system costa rica is an independent democratic republic with a president and a congress however it has no army or military interest that can in uence the political environment of the country a police force does exist to maintain social order its political structure is divided into three branches the legislative power the executive power and the judiciary power each one functions independently from the others costa rica is an active member of the united nations and the organization of the american states and upholds the rights of self-determination and non-intervention in the political life of every country economy tourism is the major source of currencies and in the country there is a development in turistical infrastructure costa ricans are predominantly tillers of the soil growing co ee and bananas for shipment to countries all over the world cocoa hemp and beef are also exported domestic markets are provided with corn rice beans sugar citrus and tropical fruits tobacco cotton and vegetable oils costa rica is traditionally a nation of small farmers although nearly half of the farmland consists of the large plantations and cattle ranches particularly in the coastal regions among the non-traditional products we have owers and macadamia nuts the government plays and important role in the development of costa rica s economy it has supplied the country with physical infrastructure such as roads bridges ports etc and it has also improved education and health conditions also political stability is an aspect seeked by investors and isn t easily found in latin america.

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential currency monetary unit is the colón ¢ around ¢530 per us dollar and it s divided into coinage of 5 10 20 ¢25 ¢50 ¢100 and ¢500 and paper currency of ¢1 000 ¢2 000 ¢5 000 and ¢10 000 ¢10 000 is around us $20 ¢5 000 is around us $10 ¢2 000 is around us $4 ¢1 000 is around us $2 ¢500 is around ¢100 is around ¢50 is around us $0.10 us $0.20 us $1 for example you can buy ¢450 ¢600 ¢400 ¢900 pag -8-

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential people costa rica owns uniformity in ethnicity and culture unmatched elsewhere in latin america the vast majority 95 of its population is of spanish descent speaks spanish as the primary language and adheres to roman catholicism the remaining ve percent are evenly divided between english speaking blacks of west indian origin and native americans most of whom live in isolated enclaves throughout the country because large-scale plantation agriculture never dominated the economy of this nation as it did throughout the rest of the region the basic social institutions were never dominated by a social and economic elite to the extent seen in the economies of nearby countries such as nicaragua small farms have always been at the core of the costa rican economy and lifestyle and a resolutely independent and democratic tradition continues to this day the country has a long tradition of democracy unlike its neighbors and nearly every citizen is active in political campaigns and elections people unfamiliar with the region often assume that the political turmoil that has troubled nicaragua panamá and el salvador is typical of all of central america but this is far from true costa rica is often described as the switzerland of the americas and the analogy has more to do with the stable democratic government and its policy of relative neutrality than it does with its size and terrain costa rica is a very safe place to travel in that there is less political turmoil than in most other latin american countries and the populace is pro-american travelers should be aware that theft is quite common and violent crime against tourists is of increasing concern theft of camera equipment wallets and pocketbooks is common in san josé and at some of the more heavily visited beach resort areas so visitors should take all possible precautions to protect their valuables pag -9-

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential political division costa rica is divided into seven provinces san josé capital cartago alajuela and heredia are located at the central valley while puntarenas guanacaste and limón are located on the coasts of our country two rst ones on the paci c ocean and the third on the caribbean sea san josé area 4,959 km² total population 1,345,750 capital san josé capital of costa rica capital s population 300,000 climate moderate average temperature 23 c altitude 1.160 mts above sea level san josé is the most populous province of the country within the boundaries of san josé we nd portions of the central and talamanca mountain ranges it has a moderate climate with a warm temperature the principal areas of development are the surrounding areas of the city of san josé san josé shows with all the activity of any major metropolitan city but at a somewhat slower pace cartago area 3,124 km² population 432,400 capital cartago capital s population 110,000 distance from san josé 27 km climate average temperature 20 to 23 c altitude 1.439 mts above sea level.

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential cartago is one of the smallest provinces but also probably the richest in colonial tradition it was the capital city of costa rica until 1823 altitudes vary from the highest peak of cerro de la muerte at 3,600 meters above sea level to 90 meters above sea level at turrialba alajuela area 9.753 km² population 716,300 capital alajuela capital s population 160,000 distance from san josé 22.5 km climate average temperature 23 to 26 c altitude 925 mts above sea level alajuela is one of the most diverse largest and hot provinces of the country within the boundaries of alajuela we nd portions of the central tilarán and guanacaste mountain ranges another sight not to be missed is the panoramas of the lush and fertile plains of san carlos altitudes vary from 90 to 900 meters above sea level and drastic changes in ora and fauna are observed over relatively short distances heredia area 2,656 km² population 354,800 capital heredia capital s population 75,000 distance from san josé 10 kms climate average temperature 23 c altitude 1,150 meters above sea level heredia is also very rich in colonial tradition situated on the central mountain range and extending north towards the border with nicaragua heredia is the heartland of costa rica s world famous co ee plantations.

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential puntarenas area 11,276 km² population 357,500 capital puntarenas capital s population 100,000 distance from san josé 130 kms climate hot average temperature 28 c altitude sea level puntarenas is the largest province the principal attractions are on the paci c coast the islands located in the gulf of nicoya are within the boundaries of this province as well as parts of the tilarán and talamanca mountain ranges puerto caldera located 16 km south of the city of puntarenas has become the most important paci c port of call for some of the major cruise liners guanacaste area 10,140 km² population 260,300 capital liberia capital s population 35,847 distance from san josé 281 km climate warm average temperature 28 c altitude 25 mts above sea level guanacaste is one of the largest but yet one of the least populated provinces of costa rica is the principle source of folklore and traditions of the country it is also primarily known for its cattle production and for its spectacular paci c coast beaches.

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the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential limón Área 9,188 km² population 339,300 capital puerto limón capital s population 70,000 distance from san josé 209 kms climate hot humid average temperature 29 c altitude sea level when christopher columbus discovered costa rica in 1502 it was the coastline of limón that inspired him to name it the rich coast limón has become an important area for shing enthusiasts looking for snook and tarpon nature geologically costa rica is a three million-year-old bridge a pathway actually between the two american continental masses this makes costa rica a special place allowing the movement of species from one continent to another and the creation of an incredibly diverse ora and fauna thousands of species have found the right habitat in this small tropical country numbers fail to completely represent its biological diversity but you can try imagining well over 500,000 species of ora and fauna representing approximately 5 of all species known to exist on earth living together in a country of only 51,000 square kilometers the country s diversity encompasses 850 species of birds from hummingbirds to macaws toucans hawks and the marvelous quetzal over 35,000 species of insects 208 species of mammals from jaguars and cougars to ocelots tapir monkeys and bats 220 species of reptiles such as sea turtles iguanas crocodiles lizards and snakes up to 2,000 orchids and an immense variety of other plants owers and trees pag -13-

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