This month, my blog post is about my expectations of Costa Rica measured up to my actual experience. After rereading the first blog, the thing that strikes me  most is how absolutely clueless I was about everything that was about to happen.  And I was right about that: I was pretty clueless.

I think when I pictured Costa Rica before I came the images were more than a little bit romanticized and hazy. But that’s why I came: to learn more. And I definitely have so far.

Learning about the Costa Rican culture is a little bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, on several of my field trips, I’ve visited small villages of locals with relatively little directly visible influence from the large tourism industry. On the other hand, some of the towns along the beach sometimes felt like little tropical splotches of the US, with Pizza Huts and Subways and most of the Costa Ricans speaking English. On one hand, there is a very unique Costa Rican culture, but on the other hand I feel like it has been some what watered down by the heavy influence of tourism. This in itself has been a cultural experience. Before I came here, I didn’t quite understand the overwhelming impact that one country could have on another.

Everything I expected of myself (that I would enjoy the weather, improve my Spanish, make new friends) definitely came true. It feel remarkable to look back on this entry because I remember writing it, sitting in my room the week before I left, and feeling like I wasn’t actually leaving. I think reality hit me (hard) a few times since then. For example, waiting in the Atlanta airport for hours before my flight out of the country with not much to do besides people watch and read my book definitely shook up my nerves a bit. So did looking out the plane window at the lights of San Jose before landing and thinking “I don’t know a single person here.” So did the first few steps on Costa Rican soil, only now I was thinking “I don’t know a single person here, I have no idea where to go, and I hope no one asks me something in Spanish.”  So did being dropped off at my host’s home at night and falling asleep in a bed without really having a clear idea of exactly where I was in relation to the rest of the city.

I’m glad I felt so lost in the first few hours because it made me work that much harder to really put my feet down and start feeling established in this strange land. The thing that helped the most, undoubtedly, was other people who have been overwhelmingly kind and generous. Everyone from my host family (so are all so patient and prepare the best food. Ever.) to the other American students (who are from all corners of the country)  and even some random strangers (once when I couldn’t get my front gate open, the security guard came over and called into my house for me.)

Even though I’ve been here for about three months now, it sometimes still doesn’t feel real.(In a very good way.)  I spent the greater part of today working on a paper for one of my classes (exciting, I know) but I couldn’t feel too frustrated about it, or even the fact that I procrastinated so much on the paper because …I’m in Costa Rica! And the whole reason I procrastinated is because every other weekend I’ve been hightailing it to different parts of the country, going to beaches and national parks and towns. So yes, Life is good. Pura Vida. J