1st week, Adjusting to something totally different
So you learned about my 1st day, now I'm going to talk about my 1st week. The 1st couple of days were a little slow. I received my luggage the next evening around 6 and at that time I received Internet connection!! WOOHOO!! I was the most happiest girl ever!! I had things from home that comforted me a lot and I could call and email people! :) It was very comforting to be able to settle in my new home! Meeting the parents was very different. In the culture here, the greeting of females to females or males to females are always with a kiss on the cheek. That was very different for me. I didn't realize this was the norm here in Costa Rica until the daughters came home and did the same. In my household, and from what I've seen, the families are very family oriented. When food is served we eat as a family,or whoever is home at that time, we eat at the dinner table. We discuss any events or things that pop to our head that occurred during that day while eating. At home, for me, when dinner is served, we go our separate ways. Speaking of eating!!! Prior to coming here, I had this big fear of not liking the food, but was I wrong!!! The food here is more American than what people! I eat pork, chicken, french fries, salads, sandwiches, etc. Yes, there is a Costa Rican twist to everything, but the point of coming here was to adjust and try new things. I am satisfied highly with everything I'm given, and if I don't care for something, I just say no me gusta mucho (I don't like this a lot). :) The means of traveling here is mainly by bus or by walking. In order for me to get to school, I have to take the bus. Man was this scary for me. I've never taken a bus before and to me, compared to where I live, this city is HUGE! The father took me for my first bus ride and I have to admit, it's still hard getting use to. You have to pay attention to your surroundings at all times so that you know where to get off at. Luckily the dad was with me the 1st couple of days, but the 3rd day I was off to school on my own. After getting off my bus I have to walk a distance, and my 1st bus ride alone I thought I was lost.. YIKES!! I was forced to approach a stranger and ask for directions. Of course I had no idea what the girl said, but from her sign language I figured it out and found out I wasn't really lost, just couldn't remember where I was! Hahaha I made it to school on my own the 1st week riding the same bus to school and back home with no problems. Classes began on a Monday and beginning the class the teacher immediately got into speaking Spanish! WHOA! What was I getting myself into? After being into the class for about 30minutes, I relaxed a little and started realizing, "hey, I know more than I thought I did. This may not be so bad after all." For the first week, it was a little hard for me because I was surround by a lot of strange people and in another country. I was very slow at meeting people at first so I went home immediately after classes to study Spanish and more Spanish. Slowly, as days passed, I began to be more comfortable with people around me. Though I was starting to become comfortable with people, I was still not comfortable with my surroundings and exploring on my own as others were doing. Like I said before, I'm from a very small town and this place was huge to me. Big city with my poor communication skills didn't go well together so I spent my 1st week back and forth between home and school. Sounds pretty boring, but I learned more in each day than I would've learned in a semester at home and that part alone was exciting. The fun comes soon!
So you learned about my 1st day, now I'm going to talk about my 1st week. The 1st couple of days were a little slow. I received my luggage the next evening around 6 and at that time I received Internet connection!! WOOHOO!! I was the most happiest girl ever!! I had things from home that comforted me a lot and I could call and email people! :) It was very comforting to be able to settle in my new home! Meeting the parents was very different. In the culture here, the greeting of females to females or males to females are always with a kiss on the cheek. That was very different for me. I didn't realize this was the norm here in Costa Rica until the daughters came home and did the same. In my household, and from what I've seen, the families are very family oriented. When food is served we eat as a family,or whoever is home at that time, we eat at the dinner table. We discuss any events or things that pop to our head that occurred during that day while eating. At home, for me, when dinner is served, we go our separate ways. Speaking of eating!!! Prior to coming here, I had this big fear of not liking the food, but was I wrong!!! The food here is more American than what people! I eat pork, chicken, french fries, salads, sandwiches, etc. Yes, there is a Costa Rican twist to everything, but the point of coming here was to adjust and try new things. I am satisfied highly with everything I'm given, and if I don't care for something, I just say no me gusta mucho (I don't like this a lot). :) The means of traveling here is mainly by bus or by walking. In order for me to get to school, I have to take the bus. Man was this scary for me. I've never taken a bus before and to me, compared to where I live, this city is HUGE! The father took me for my first bus ride and I have to admit, it's still hard getting use to. You have to pay attention to your surroundings at all times so that you know where to get off at. Luckily the dad was with me the 1st couple of days, but the 3rd day I was off to school on my own. After getting off my bus I have to walk a distance, and my 1st bus ride alone I thought I was lost.. YIKES!! I was forced to approach a stranger and ask for directions. Of course I had no idea what the girl said, but from her sign language I figured it out and found out I wasn't really lost, just couldn't remember where I was! Hahaha I made it to school on my own the 1st week riding the same bus to school and back home with no problems. Classes began on a Monday and beginning the class the teacher immediately got into speaking Spanish! WHOA! What was I getting myself into? After being into the class for about 30minutes, I relaxed a little and started realizing, "hey, I know more than I thought I did. This may not be so bad after all." For the first week, it was a little hard for me because I was surround by a lot of strange people and in another country. I was very slow at meeting people at first so I went home immediately after classes to study Spanish and more Spanish. Slowly, as days passed, I began to be more comfortable with people around me. Though I was starting to become comfortable with people, I was still not comfortable with my surroundings and exploring on my own as others were doing. Like I said before, I'm from a very small town and this place was huge to me. Big city with my poor communication skills didn't go well together so I spent my 1st week back and forth between home and school. Sounds pretty boring, but I learned more in each day than I would've learned in a semester at home and that part alone was exciting. The fun comes soon!
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