Rachel: So, Steven, you're from Costa Rica, and I've heard it's an amazingly beautiful country, and I've seen some of pictures you've shown us in class. Do you get a lot of tourists going?
Steven: In Costa Rica we are considered one of the most important places where there's mostly rainforest. We are composed of 4% of the world's natural forest. But this is increasing due to the fact that Brazil's cutting down the trees.
Rachel: So, do most tourists go to Costa Rica for eco-tourism or are there any other reasons?
Steven: Most of the people that go to Costa Rica is not only due to the environment, like going to see the trees, volcanoes, animals, but they also come to Costa Rica because they want get plastic surgeries because in Costa Rica it's really cheap. Also they travel to Costa Rica in order to retire because Costa Rica is also considered one of the world's cheapest living costs in the world.
Rachel: Wow, I didn't know so many people went there for medical tourism. So that's really interesting. What kind of countries do they come from?
Steven: Well, when I was on the plane going to Japan I found it was packed of people with bandages and they all were going to the United States and this just surprised me that people we coming and having surgery and leaving the country.
Rachel: Yeah, that's amazing. And you said as well you have people coming to retire. Is that changing the demographics of the country?
Steven: Actually, when people are coming into Costa Rica, it's really good due to ... they bring money into the country, but one thing that is really bad is that they are cutting trees in order to live next to the forest. They're killing off animals in order to live next to the beaches, and this is one of the big problems that Costa Rica is facing.
Rachel: So how are the authorities or people in Costa Rica trying to protect those areas of natural beauty?
Steven: Currently Costa Rica is trying to .... like the government is trying to protect these places however there's places where the government cannot interfere so organizations and schools are collecting money in order to buy these properties and let them unused, uninhabited. For example in the case in my school, I donated 500 Koolon which is around one dollar and we collected for several years and finally we bought a chunk of land and currently no one is living there, and the forest and the animals living there are untouched.
Rachel: That's so cool. So you own some of the rain forest.
Steven: Yeah, pretty much I do.