The Spanish Language Institute is located in San Francisco de Dos Rios, a middle class residential area on the southeast edge of the capital city of San José, with churches, restaurants, pharmacies, grocery stores, and a post office within walking distance.
The Institute is situated on an attractive, sloping property with private homes around it and a view of velvet green mountains to the south. Buildings are spaced among pleasant lawns and gardens on the nearly two-acre campus. A steel-beamed gymnasium, completed in 1984, provides recreational facilities and excellent opportunities for establishing relationships with people of the community who participate in after-school sports activities.
1. Administration, Library, Meeting Rooms
2. Academic Director’s Office, Classrooms
3.
Institute Adult Classrooms
4. Sojourn Academy, Classrooms 7-12
5. Sojourn Classrooms
6. Sojourn Admin. and Library
7. Sojourn Academy, Elementary
8. Rayitos de Sol (Day Care)
9. Rayitos de Sol (Day Care)
10. Gymnasium
11. Maintenance Shop
12. Picnic Tables
13. “La Casita” Student Center
14. “La Terraza” Sitting Area
15. Chapel, Lunch Room
16. Parking Lot
Downtown San José is easily reached in 20 minutes by bus or 10 minutes by taxi. It is perched 3,500 feet above sea level in Costa Rica's broad, mountain-ringed Central Valley and enjoys a year round average temperature of 74 degrees Fahrenheit. The coolest months are January and February, while April, at the tail end of the dry season, is the warmest. Temperatures are quite moderate in the rainy season, which stretches from May to December, and showers generally occur in the afternoon.
San José blends modern high-rises and sophisticated shops with colorful street vendors, markets, and the one-story tin roofed buildings of past eras. Museums, concerts, international and typical restaurants, and live theatre are just some of the interesting places to visit. For a "touch of home," US newspapers and fast food restaurants are close at hand and shopping malls are just 10 minutes away.