I have been home now for almost one month and am staring down the face of another school year. In reflecting upon my experiences in Costa Rica, I have many insights, this one in particular: study abroad has to be the most worthwhile thing I have ever done in college. I studied in Mexico with the psychology department during my undergraduate years. It was not a language study program; not a Spanish language program anyway. I did learn a new language, however. I learned the language of Self. For the first time in my life, at the age of 20, I learned that I was an individual outside of the ideas, the values, the goals, the constructs of my family. I learned the language of self-acceptance and self- love. Between my earlier life-altering experience in Mexico in 1995 and this summer’s trip to Costa Rica, I have grown.
Costa Rica showed me that I still have expectations of “how things should be.” I was reminded very quickly that Costa Rica’s bus system does not work the same way as it does in the United States, that I could fight against the crowds, the lines, and the long hours as long as I wanted, but, ultimately, the buses in Costa Rica would be the buses in Costa Rica; accepting them as such was my best route to staying sane. And this applied across the board: to the food, the people, the culture, classmates and friends. It was how I controlled my expectations that determined whether I found myself frustrated by the difference or elated by the difference.
So, as I sit here preparing for another year, instead of dreading how my life will change again, I commit to having no expectations. With a positive attitude of knowing change is inevitable, I will eagerly await what comes my way. And I have been reminded that it is only through the way I choose to see things that all will be well.
Adios Costa Rica. Hola great reminders….

There are a few things to know about Costa Rica. I will let you in on some. If you are traveling here someday I think part of the experience is figuring out some of the fun stuff on your own. I don´t want to do ALL the suffering!

Perscription Meds: You can get anything you think you need here. Just don’t play pharmacy. The pharmacists here are just as good as our doctors. Until your lungs have shut down and you need breathing treatments. They have super-powered throat losenges and mosquito bite stuff that will make your whole leg numb! And you can get some awesome orange nail polish while you’re at it!

Buses: Don’t assume that just because you traveled for a half an hour or longer to buy a ticket in advance and have a seat that there will only be the 50 passengers who have tickets on the bus. No. As many people as will fit will be riding with you. And if it happens to be raining so hard that you cannot keep the windows open without turning the bus into a community swimming pool, you will smell a smell you will never forget and will almost die to get away from.

Pay Phones: Nifty ones on the walls in restaurants and such where you can push a button with an American flag, punch in your credit card number and dial just as you would your BFF at home. SO easy. SO convenient! Called my mom, called the kids, left a message on my daughter’s cell phone and checked the balance on my credit card. THEN… I thought to check to see how much those phones cost per minute. $21.50 for the first five minutes and $2.00 for each minute after. SO… here is where my math skills get super powered. That is 4 phone calls @ $21.50 totalling $86. That does not include the minutes I used. So the lesson is… buy a phone card from C.R. or use Skype. DUH!!!!

Oh… and when you hear people say keep your posessions close, DO IT! Two cameras into the hands of who knows who! One right out of my bag while I was standing on the sidewalk. I always wondered how people could be so dumb as to not feel someone pick their pocket. Evidently I am just as dumb as I thought others were…

I sadly departed Manuel Antonio and just finished my first day of class. Conversa is an amazingly beautiful campus in the mountains outside the capital city, San Jose.

At 35, my memory of 2 semesters of college Spanish is null and void. In fact, I think they have changed the language completely since 1993. After 6 hours of class, the hamster wheel in my head is smoking!! Poor little hamster. I probably should have replaced a belt or had an oil change before I left.

Our host family is great. My dirty, stinky laundry from the coast was very embarassingly placed in the hamper this morning and neatly folded on my bed this afternoon.

Little did I know ( they have definitely changed geography since I was in high school) that it is winter here. Winter in Costa Rica means rain. Rain, rain and a little more rain if you are not wet enough.

This is a little poem I made up on the bus back from Manuel Antonio:

The wheels on the bus don’t go round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus just lock, slip, and drown… here in Costa Rica! No matter. We are usually headed downhill anyway.

Pura Vida,
A wet gringo