I travelled to Costa Rica in May 2007 and loved it! It was such a gorgeous country. The people were so friendly. I knew some spanish but I felt like it wasn't a problem talking with the locals. I could have stayed there. It has inspired me to use my painting skills to have a showing of Costa Rican inspired paintings. I will have a silent auction where 50% of the sales will go to Carara National Park. My college (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) souly funds renovations for this park and the salary of it's park service employees.