Transition

Leaving my host family in Nicaragua was hard. They had welcomed me warmly in their home and patiently put up with my broken Spanish. We shared many laughs and stories from our lives.  They live a very simple, quiet life in the city. They rarely venture far from their home.  Neither of them work outside the home anymore. Their income consists of what they make from hosting students.  Sonia, my host mom, shared that she did not know when the next students might come. She feared that they would not have anyone until the late spring.  I know they will be fine, however, I felt protective of them.  

As we loaded into the bus and traversed the mountain passes out of Nicaragua into Costa Rica, I felt a little nervous about the next stage in my adventure. I had just begun to feel comfortable roaming the city on my own.  How was the next town going to be? Would the family be as welcoming as Sonia and Orlando were?  I had a lot of time to think during the 8 hour journey.

Almost immediately as we crossed into Costa Rica, I could see economic differences. The streets were paved. Most houses and buildings were constructed with strong materials like brick and stucco or adobe. There was landscaping. In the mountains, a series of huge windmills were scattered through the landscape.  The views were breathtaking. 

Once we arrived in Santo Domingo, the prosperity of Costa Rica was evident. Many cars filled the streets-fancy new models too. Restaurants, stores, and  homes reflected the fact that the residents have money to spend.  Beautiful schools represent the country's emphasis on free education for all.  

When my new host mom, Vivian, picked me up in a taxi, she welcomed me with open arms.  Once again, I was struck by the economic differences when I walked into their home. They have a kitchen with a large stainless steel refrigerator and a washer and dryer. They have two bathrooms with hot water!  They have two bedrooms,an office, and a living room.  It is a comfortable, yet simple home on the edge of a more affluent neighborhood.

I transitioned easily into this new phase as my new family opened their lives to me. Vivian and I spent hours getting to know each other, sharing intimate details of our lives. Her husband, Eric, runs his own computer company so he often worked long days. He also made me feel at home when he was with us.  On the second day, Vivian's nieces, Sophia and Maria Jose, joined us for the rest of my stay.  My days quickly took on a new rhythm of routine:  volunteer work at Lapa Verde Community Center in the mornings and Spanish classes all afternoon.  I didn't hang out much with other students after class, but rather headed home to spend evenings with my host family.

We cooked together, ate and talked late into the night.  It is amazing how quickly I felt so connected.  There are just not enough words to describe the feelings.  The time was too short.

In the coming days, I explored the city of San Jose with Vivian.  As the capital of Costa Rica, it had much to offer. In a day we visited an incredible museum, the beautiful National Theater, and an artisans market.  In each place, I learned about the country's rich culture, biodiversity, and emphasis on education.  

Staying in Santo Domingo was a step back toward the standard of living I have in the U.S.  People are often running or biking on the streets. Beautiful gyms can be found all across the city.  With all of that, also came a big change in the costs to buy goods.  Prices were comparable.  One evening, I talked to Eric about the standard of living in Costa Rica in comparison to Nicaragua and the U.S.  He explained that in Nicaragua the society is divided mostly into two classes- the poor and rich with few in the middle class.  In Costa Rica, there is a large middle class with much less poor and some quite wealthy. It was extremely rare to see a street person in town. There were lots of families with pets and few stray dogs on the street.  Street people and stray animals are abundant in Nicaragua. In fact, a whole community of Nicaraguan and Colombian immigrants have formed a poor community outside of the city here in CR. The medical students in our group spent their volunteer time working there.

My volunteer work in Santo Domingo consisted of planning and running an educational day camp at the community center. I was told that the kids were from working families who could not afford daycare during their winter break. However, it did not appear that the families that came were struggling.  Many of the children attended classes at the community center after school or on Satur days.  Some were taking English classes.  It was a wonderful experience getting to know them as we played together.

My time on the trip has come to an end. I can say that I met many of my goals.  My Spanish has improved tremendously although I have a long way to go. I am motivated to continue studying once I am home. I really don't want to lose the gains I made.  I feel like I will be able to communicate more with my Spanish speaking students and families. I definitely understand more.  I am also energized to continue doing volunteer work in some form.  I want to continue my connection with House of Hope and Granada Christian Education Center.  There is so much to be done.  Through their work, I can see how much influence one life can have on another.  I want to help them in their fight against poverty and human trafficking.  On the local level, I hope to start a community service committee at my school to empower our school community as well.  It is such a gift and blessing to realize that we can all make a difference together.

Here are just a few picture from my time in Costa Rica:

#FFTFellow