6 weeks In :)
I bet you are wondering what happened leading up to 6 weeks, well I’m going to tell you. You learned about my 1st day, my 1st week, and some of the culture differences now I’m going to tell you about the different things I’ve done here besides go to school to learn Spanish. Spanish is all around me 24/7, so I don’t necessarily have to go to school to learn the language. I have been many places where I’ve had to come in contact with someone who speaks Spanish, for an example, the 1st real weekend in Costa Rica, the family and I went to Puntarenes Beach. This is a beach on the Pacific side and it is so beautiful. A beach in Costa Rica is totally different than in the States. Some of the beaches in Costa Rica are like having a park on the side of the ocean. There are stand of food and places to just sit and relax if you are not in the ocean. My 1st contact with a Tico outside my family and school was here when I had to order something I wanted to eat and man was that hard. I also got to meet a part of my Host Dad’s family and see how differently they live along with the traditional things that are done in Costa Rica. Another place I visited within the 1st 6 weeks was with my program to Volcano Poas and a real coffee plantation. Volcano Poas is one of the few active volcanoes in Costa Rica and I was at the tip top of it. (Check out some of the pictures). The coffee plantation was huge and very GREEN! The coffee plantation of “Café Brit” is famous because it’s the best coffee due to the soil of the volcanoes that surrounds it. Our visit there was a lot of fun because our Tico tour guides were very funny. They knew how to keep our attention even though they were only talking about coffee. The 3rd place I’ve visited was a dance club in Costa Rica. You might be saying “huh?” but trust me it is very different. As Americans in a different country, you have to be aware of culture differences such as for females never accept a drink from a male because that means you are accepting him and you are willing to go with him if he asks. (Not in all cases, but most). The best part about this experience was getting to meet new people. Not all the experiences were the best, but it forced me to step out my comfort zone and try to speak Spanish. Another place I visited within the 5th week of being here was a beach on the Caribbean side.(YES the Caribbean!) It was beautiful. Being in a different country, one of the few things people are scared to do is travel hours away without knowing much about the place, well I did it. A group of us stepped out of our comfort zone and traveled 5hours away to Cauhita. There we experienced a total different style of living. It was very different there because the cost of living is very poor. There weren’t many places to see besides the beautiful beaches. It made us cherish more of the things we have because there it wasn’t much, not even compared to where I actually live in Costa Rica. There in Cauhita, we took a tour through one of the national parks there and saw monkeys, sloth’s, different types of birds, and a lot of different insects. I can say enough how beautiful it is to travel and see things you have never seen before. Within the first six weeks, it has been such a life changing experience. It is very overwhelming because you are trying to learn a new language, but at the same time you don’t want to overload yourself with stress of trying to learn it. I learned that by just going out and doing things instead of locking myself in a box because I’m scared. The best way to learn is to go out and get into things, talking to people even when you don’t know what you are saying and volunteering. Speaking of volunteering, I am currently now volunteering to assist a Spanish teacher teach English. You may be thinking how am I going to learn Spanish if I’m teaching English, well simple, I help them learn English and they help me with Spanish. It is great trade off. I couldn’t ask for anything better. The first 6 weeks here have been amazing. Yes, I miss my family and friends a lot, but that’s when I go out and do things so that I won’t get home sick. The best way to deal with home sickness is to occupy yourself. In the states, I use to sit at home and complain of how there was nothing ever to do and coming here doing the things I could simply do at home was a shocker to me. It amazes me how being in a different country changes your outlook on things. ONLY BEING HERE FOR 6 weeks! 
I bet you are wondering what happened leading up to 6 weeks, well I’m going to tell you. You learned about my 1st day, my 1st week, and some of the culture differences now I’m going to tell you about the different things I’ve done here besides go to school to learn Spanish. Spanish is all around me 24/7, so I don’t necessarily have to go to school to learn the language. I have been many places where I’ve had to come in contact with someone who speaks Spanish, for an example, the 1st real weekend in Costa Rica, the family and I went to Puntarenes Beach. This is a beach on the Pacific side and it is so beautiful. A beach in Costa Rica is totally different than in the States. Some of the beaches in Costa Rica are like having a park on the side of the ocean. There are stand of food and places to just sit and relax if you are not in the ocean. My 1st contact with a Tico outside my family and school was here when I had to order something I wanted to eat and man was that hard. I also got to meet a part of my Host Dad’s family and see how differently they live along with the traditional things that are done in Costa Rica. Another place I visited within the 1st 6 weeks was with my program to Volcano Poas and a real coffee plantation. Volcano Poas is one of the few active volcanoes in Costa Rica and I was at the tip top of it. (Check out some of the pictures). The coffee plantation was huge and very GREEN! The coffee plantation of “Café Brit” is famous because it’s the best coffee due to the soil of the volcanoes that surrounds it. Our visit there was a lot of fun because our Tico tour guides were very funny. They knew how to keep our attention even though they were only talking about coffee. The 3rd place I’ve visited was a dance club in Costa Rica. You might be saying “huh?” but trust me it is very different. As Americans in a different country, you have to be aware of culture differences such as for females never accept a drink from a male because that means you are accepting him and you are willing to go with him if he asks. (Not in all cases, but most). The best part about this experience was getting to meet new people. Not all the experiences were the best, but it forced me to step out my comfort zone and try to speak Spanish. Another place I visited within the 5th week of being here was a beach on the Caribbean side.(YES the Caribbean!) It was beautiful. Being in a different country, one of the few things people are scared to do is travel hours away without knowing much about the place, well I did it. A group of us stepped out of our comfort zone and traveled 5hours away to Cauhita. There we experienced a total different style of living. It was very different there because the cost of living is very poor. There weren’t many places to see besides the beautiful beaches. It made us cherish more of the things we have because there it wasn’t much, not even compared to where I actually live in Costa Rica. There in Cauhita, we took a tour through one of the national parks there and saw monkeys, sloth’s, different types of birds, and a lot of different insects. I can say enough how beautiful it is to travel and see things you have never seen before. Within the first six weeks, it has been such a life changing experience. It is very overwhelming because you are trying to learn a new language, but at the same time you don’t want to overload yourself with stress of trying to learn it. I learned that by just going out and doing things instead of locking myself in a box because I’m scared. The best way to learn is to go out and get into things, talking to people even when you don’t know what you are saying and volunteering. Speaking of volunteering, I am currently now volunteering to assist a Spanish teacher teach English. You may be thinking how am I going to learn Spanish if I’m teaching English, well simple, I help them learn English and they help me with Spanish. It is great trade off. I couldn’t ask for anything better. The first 6 weeks here have been amazing. Yes, I miss my family and friends a lot, but that’s when I go out and do things so that I won’t get home sick. The best way to deal with home sickness is to occupy yourself. In the states, I use to sit at home and complain of how there was nothing ever to do and coming here doing the things I could simply do at home was a shocker to me. It amazes me how being in a different country changes your outlook on things. ONLY BEING HERE FOR 6 weeks! 
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