Internship Abroad in Costa Rica: Part 3
I waited for my boss to show up. When he did we went to the International Relations commission. It had already let out BUT I met Anne Andrews the US ambassador to Costa Rica. I took pictures with her and I watched her conduct some diplomacy work with the secretary of the Congress. There was a situation with American ships carrying drugs that needed to enter Costa Rican territory but they needed permission from the Congress.
After this there was a lot of downtime and waiting. Mostly learning different things from the other intern and I also found myself in the newspaper. I was in the background of a picture with congressmen when we had a evacuation drill. I also sat in the press room again to watch the general assembly. It started off slow because there is a law that states that a certain amount of people must be in the General Assembly (GA) room to begin broadcasting or talking about any important topics. Costa Ricans find it stupid and I believe my boss is secretly trying to change this law. The congress had to do an emergency vote on the US boat situation because there was a 24 hour time limit. The Congress didn’t seem to show urgency to vote or discuss the situation because it took a while for the members to arrive in the GA room.
After the day was over in the congress, I went to the Peace Center where I went to speak with Don Francisco. He let me sit in on a meeting with some indigenous Costa Ricans and take notes on a project they are working on to have their culture exhibited. Starting first with the National Museum.
- The Natural Travelista