by Abby S. (9th Grade)

This year for geography class I had the privilege of studying the great land of Costa Rica, which is not known for its frogs. Costa Rica is in Central America—as I am sure we all know—but it reminds me a lot of Colombia, for reasons I can’t quite explain. Costa Rica was one of my favourite countries of the year because of its vibrant culture, traditions, and tasty food (in all honesty, that was my favourite part).
In Costa Rica’s plentiful tropics little see-through frogs can be found. They are called glass frogs and, though no one agrees with me, I think they look a tad like candy. Also found in the tropics are the elegant ruby-spotted swallowtail butterflies, and the less elegant owl butterfly.
Costa Rica also has food that is to die for, which is a possibility when getting street Ceviche. Interestingly enough, various kinds of fruit salads are also considered street food. If you want to see some of their food in person, get yourself invited to prepare the Christmas tamales with someone’s family. If you are assigned to cleaning banana leaves, don’t think too much about that.
Music is important to their culture, with several music festivals, including the intriguing underground* Ocaso Festival, celebrating their unique music styles. Calypso is a very popular genre in Costa Rica, though less traditional and more popular genres are also common.
Costa Rica is definitely worth at least a quick Google**, if not a visit.

*Probably not literally
**Not that I don’t think there is something distinctly nefarious and slightly evil about Google. It has its own verb! And a noun!