As my second week in Costa Rica comes to a close, I've had time to reflect on my experience here and how it completely exceeded my previous expectations. The amount of fun I've been having, the pace of life, and how much learning I've done so far about Latin American culture has changed my view of the world.
An aspect of Latin American culture that has impacted me most is learning Spanish to a level of fluency and comprehension I hadn't had previously from learning in the U.S. I knew I would be immersed in the culture and language of Costa Rica, however, what I didn't expect was to have difficulty switching between Spanish and English because my thoughts and inner monologue have adapted to being bilingual. I've been speaking Spanish my entire life, but I have never experienced complete immersion like I have living in Costa Rica. From this experience studying abroad and living with a Tico family, I have learned that the best way to become fluent in a language is to live it.
The hardest part of studying abroad for me has been missing my family back home in Texas. I recently became an aunt again right before leaving to Costa Rica, and I'm missing out on my niece's early stages of life while being away. Though I miss my family, there are many distractions with being so busy between school and activities, so I don't have much time to dwell on it. Additionally, I didn't expect to have access to WiFi and the internet, and I was pleasantly surprised with the speed and quality of the connection. This has been very helpful for me to be able to contact my family back home daily, which I am very grateful for.
I feel as though my identity of being a part of the LGBTQ+ community isn't affecting my experience here much at all. Everyone is very accepting of my identity of being a lesbian, and I am treated the same as my heterosexual counterparts, which is how it should be. Surprisingly, I have found that people in Costa Rica are actually more accepting of my identity than people in my hometown of Pflugerville, Texas. People in Costa Rica are generally very accepting of all people because of their main view of life, "Pura Vida", which essentially means to look for positivity in all parts of life. I have found this sentiment to be extremely refreshing in contrast to the current political scene in the United States, which is often negative in nature. Aside from the people I've met from Costa Rica, I have also had the pleasure of meeting people from all across the United States in my GEO program. I've gotten to know people from Alaska, Florida, Ohio, California, Michigan, and all over Oregon, and have been met with pure kindness and respect.
In my two weeks of living in Heredia with a native host mother (mama tica) and a roommate from Florida, I have experienced a culture shift in many ways. One of these culture shifts is Costa Rica's commitment to sustainability in all ways of life. Ticos practice sustainability by focusing on conserving natural resources and being conscious about wasting food and other items. A few examples that I have seen of Ticos being sustainable are saving water by only taking showers less than ten minutes, being very conscious about wasting food, and encouraging walking to places instead of driving. I have also noticed that public transport and carpooling is very common in Costa Rica. This was a culture shock for me because in Texas, public transport is very uncommon and not widely recognized because our cities are not walkable like cities in Costa Rica. Additionally, it was a culture shock for me to experience the level of conservation and sustainability that Ticos practice, which is very different to what I am used to in the U.S.
So far, I've been having the best time in Costa Rica. My expectations were completely blown out of proportion and exceeded by this experience. Even so, I have already started planning to study abroad in another Spanish-speaking country with GEO next summer. If I could recommend one piece of advice to incoming college students, I would highly recommend studying abroad. The experience of learning in a different formal classroom is amazing, but even greater than this is the learning opportunity of being immersed in another culture. Until next time, PURA VIDA!
Lane Decker, Diverse Ducks Ambassador
Advancing your Academic Success: Pre-Freshman Studies in Heredia, Costa Rica