My first few days here have absolutely flown by! So I will just talk about a few differences I have already noticed and some of the excurisions I have participated in outside the busy city of San Jose! I first noticed how different transportation is here in Costa Rica when compared to the United States. Car ownership has grown but road expansion has not really occurred. Some people own their own cars but public transportation and walking are some of the major ways people get around here. For example, my classmates and I take a city bus to school (duration is between 30 minutes-2 hours depending on traffic) and then we walk about 3 blocks to get to CRLA- Costa Rican Language Academy. But I really enjoy the natural views here. This is what our classrooms look like at CRLA. There is six students in my classroom and one professor, and I LOVE that. I am not over looked, I get a lot of Spanish speaking practice, and everyone supports each other. My teacher also does not speak any English to us so I learn so much every day. (My host family does not speak English to me either, only a few words at times.) We meet for a few hours in the morning, have a one hour lunch and then finish the day in the classroom for another 1 to 2 hours. CRLA also offers a bunch of after class activities such as dance classes, yoga classes, and conversation classes to practice speaking Spanish! I took a dance class Monday afternoon and it was so much fun!! The food here in Costa Rica is so different than home! I am eating homemade and freshly prepared meats and vegetables for basically ever meal. We have rice and beans with almost every meal as well and that is very typical for Costa Rica. Not that I do not eat homemade meals in the United States, rather the foods themselves have different tastes and textures than home and are even totally different types of food. The top of this picture you will see what looks like bananas and they are not! They are a cousin of bananas and they are called platanos, and they are very commonly served here in Costa Rica. Here are two pictures from the first excursion we went on! We visited Cafe Britt where we learned all about the coffee process since coffee is a very large part of Costa Rica's economy. Many many years ago, coffee plants were given to anybody who would grow it to help produce more revenue. One reason that Costa Rica's coffee is so delicious (and trust me it is) is because of the volcanic soil! Volcanic soil is very rich and great for growing coffee beans, strawberries, and more. The picture on the left shows a coffee plantation located on Poas mountains near the volcano. Costa Rica currently has 3 active volcanos (over 100 in total) and the Poas Volcano is active and producing ash so we were not able to visit it. Coffee production creates many jobs for Costa Ricans. I am able to enjoy coffee each morning before and during my classes at CRLA. Following Cafe Britt, the next day we visited La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This is where we explored 4 waterfalls. I was finally able to get a workout in climbing up 50 flights of stairs from the last waterfall to the first, and then doing it a second time, but this time running it with one of my professors! We also saw many animals such as birds, snakes, frogs, jaguars, and more! (All animals were contained and we were in no danger.) The natural beauty speaks for itself! Here is a picture of my Senora, Guiselle, making us empanadas for dinner (they were amazing.) Guiselle is a beautiful woman who works very hard taking care of her sick mother, watching her two grandchildren, and now taking care of me and my housemate. I could not have asked to be placed in a better host family. Guiselle and her family show me what really matters in life and how humans should treat one another, this is mainly through my observations because neither of us are fluent in each other's native language. I enjoy learning from them each and every day and I cant wait for the rest of the time I will spend with them. One last thing....There is one thing that is prominent in my mind and has been since my first full day here in Costa Rica. In their United States, many people say the phrase, "we're in America, learn to speak English." Being placed in a non-English speaking home I have realized just how cruel that phrase is. How do we as Americans know who is trying to learn English? When my friends and I are riding the bus we mostly speak in English because that's the language we know best and I do not know yet how to say most things I want to in Spanish. But Costa Rican's would not know I am here for the sole purpose of learning Spanish unless they saw me leaving the academy or I told them. This experience so far has made me realize how accommodating Spanish speakers are to me and my group and how horrid Americans are to speakers of other languages. Costa Rican's make an effort to understand me and send me in the right direction, Americans are quick to turn their back on those of another culture. Also there are MANY places where both English and Spanish are spoken & written. Yet in America, people become frustrated when a sign is written in both languages.
Our world is evolving each day with diversity and it will never stop. I wish everybody could have the experience I am having because then there would no longer be any discrimination. This is a great lesson for humanity to be a little more accepting of different cultures.
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