We have officially been here in Costa Rica for a little more than a week and I’ve been having an amazing time! From the various site visits, to interacting with my host mom, and getting to know my fellow students on the trip, I had an incredible first week and cannot believe how fast time is flying – we leave on Friday. I also celebrated my birthday last Friday, one of three student birthdays on the trip, which was a unique and memorable experience. My favorite parts of the trip so far have been the Cloud Forest Hike in Monteverde, where we saw some amazing views, and the service project where we visited a local elementary school and painted a mural. I enjoyed interacting with the kids and practicing my Spanish, whether it was by painting and chatting or playing soccer with them.
My new community here in Costa Rica is similar to my home community. I start each day eating breakfast with my host mom and fellow student Melissa, and often end the day with dinner at my homestay as well. When I eat with my host mom, we often talk about what happened during the day and what the next day’s plans are. I’m enjoying getting the chance to practice speaking Spanish with my host mom. This is my first time traveling to a Spanish speaking country, so getting the chance to practice speaking makes this trip a great opportunity for me. In terms of differences, the culture is more relaxed here than my life in the US. Usually when I am at home, breakfast is quick and my family and I eat whenever we first wake up, whether it is together or separate. Here, Melissa, our mama tica, and I have been setting a specific time for breakfast each morning so that we can eat together and that our mama tica can prepare breakfast at a reasonable time. Another thing that varies is in the streets, where drivers have the right of way compared to the US, where pedestrians have the right of way. Therefore, we need to take extra caution when crossing the street. We do a lot of walking around Heredia, similar to life at Pitt for me, or we take Ubers, which are surprising really cheap compared to the US.
Overall, the pace of Costa Rican life has been slower than the life I am used to in the US. It is much more relaxed with people always walking around saying “Pura Vida” or waving hello to us. Similarly, when we say thank you, the response we get is always “con mucho gusto” or “con gusto”, meaning with pleasure, instead of “de nada”, which I was always taught in Spanish classes. Everyone here is very kind and welcoming which makes a world of difference for us as tourists. Since the sun rises around 5am and sets around 5pm, people are out and about early here. This is the reason why our schedule has included many early mornings to take advantage of the early morning sun, before coming inside during the afternoon rain. I have really enjoyed my time here in Costa Rica so far and have adjusted fairly well to the culture here. I am looking forward to making the most of these last few days before returning home on Friday.
