Homesick and more

Today is the last day with my first home stay family.  The rest of my group went to do our first service project in La Carpio today.  Unfortunately I was sick and unable to go.  At the start of the day, I just thought it was a mild stomach problem and that if I got a little more sleep I would be ok enough to go into school for my afternoon classes.  Unfortunately this was not the case.  As the day went on I felt worse and worse.  I ended up having to go to the clinic.  Justin came with me to translate and if I had felt lost and confused in my home stay house, this was on an entirely different level.  Being in a situation not only where I feel miserable and can barely stay standing without passing out is hard enough to go through even if I have my family there.  But this time, I couldn’t have my mother there to take care of me, and I couldn’t understand any of what was being said in the Doctor’s office.  It is scary to have someone doing an exam of you when you are feeling so miserable and not understanding anything that is being said to you.  This situation just showed me even more so how my students would feel.  For me, being in a home stay was scary, but with the age my students will be it will be all the more scary for them.  I feel like being at this doctor’s office and not understanding what was being said to me gave me a better appreciation for what my students will go through on a daily basis.  As much as I wished I could have been at La Carpio, I think that I was able to learn from the situation I was put in.  

The journey begins-day one with my first host family

I just spent my first night with my first host family.  I was so unbelievably nervous when going to meet my home stay family.  When we walked outside all the families were standing there waiting to pick each of us up.  As each family was called and each of my group members went off with their host family I became more and more anxious.   When my family’s name was called and I walked up to them they both seemed so welcoming that I was able to relax for a minute.  Then the talking started.  When my papa Tico started talking in Spanish all of that panic came back because I didn’t know what he was saying.  Thankfully, my papa Tico is learning English so he was able to tell me what he was saying which helped me relax again.  This definitely showed me that I am one to freeze up in uncomfortable situations.  When my Mama Tica would say something I would freeze up and second guess what it meant.  In some cases I really had no idea what she said but in others I feel like I did know some of what she was saying but I was so worried about being wrong that I just froze up.  This is something I definitely need to work on because when I am a teacher I can’t just freeze up whenever something gets tough to explain to the students.  This is one thing that does worry me about being a teacher.  I have been in situations before where I didn’t know how to respond to something a child asked or did.  I think that after realizing this tonight I will be able to improve upon this during the next few weeks of this trip. 

                These are some of the nicest people I have met! When talking to my Mama Tica I felt so bad not knowing Spanish.  We tried so hard to communicate with each other.  It was very hard but all things considered I feel we did very well.  It helped that my sister Tica spoke both English and Spanish fluently and she was able to help me get through this first night.  I am so excited to see where this experience can take me. 

Costa Rica, here I come!!!

I have always wanted to study abroad, especially after my sister studied for a semester in Greece.  I was so far into the education program that I knew that a semester away would put me a semester behind.  When I heard that there was finally a study away program for education majors I knew this would be a once in a life time opportunity.  I am so excited to be going somewhere that I know nothing about and a culture I know nothing about.  When I was a student ambassador with People-to-People in Europe, it was the place that was lower key that I loved most.  I much preferred Malta to Paris or Rome or anywhere else on the trip.  In Malta everything was calm and quiet and very different from the fast paced living you often see in the states.  This had a huge impact on my life and I am hoping this trip is just as life altering. 

                At this point, I am nervous only because of how little I know Spanish.  I am worried about how I am going to be able to communicate with my Tico family because of how little Spanish I know.  I am also nervous because of how little I know of the culture and I’m worried about insulting them if I do or say something wrong. 

                One thing I am expecting out of this trip is that it will make me a much more understanding teacher.  I feel like this will help me to help my students understand when they are struggling because I will feel that same frustration when trying to communicate with my Tico family.  

Costa Rica, here I come!!!

I have always wanted to study abroad, especially after my sister studied for a semester in Greece.  I was so far into the education program that I knew that a semester away would put me a semester behind.  When I heard that there was finally a study away program for education majors I knew this would be a once in a life time opportunity.  I am so excited to be going somewhere that I know nothing about and a culture I know nothing about.  When I was a student ambassador with People-to-People in Europe, it was the place that was lower key that I loved most.  I much preferred Malta to Paris or Rome or anywhere else on the trip.  In Malta everything was calm and quiet and very different from the fast paced living you often see in the states.  This had a huge impact on my life and I am hoping this trip is just as life altering. 

                At this point, I am nervous only because of how little I know Spanish.  I am worried about how I am going to be able to communicate with my Tico family because of how little Spanish I know.  I am also nervous because of how little I know of the culture and I’m worried about insulting them if I do or say something wrong. 

                One thing I am expecting out of this trip is that it will make me a much more understanding teacher.  I feel like this will help me to help my students understand when they are struggling because I will feel that same frustration when trying to communicate with my Tico family.