What do you think of when you think of Costa Rica? Well I’ll be the first to tell you, I thought of monkeys, rainforests, and a simple life. While this is true, we fail to recognize the things they don’t have that we do have.
For starters the hardest change for me to accept has been (while rather disturbing it is reality), their sewers cannot process toilet paper and therefore they throw all toilet paper in the small trash can that sits right next to each and every toilet. At first I thought, you’re kidding right…?
But no, they aren’t kidding and it is a serious problem here. I have learned to enter the bathrooms at my own risk.
At that point I think it finally hit me that I am living in a third world country.
Though it’s only been 3 days so far I have managed to experience both blessings and curses. The first new blessing in my life is my roommate Emily. She’s from Maryland and lived a very different life than I did before our trip here yet we still have so much in common as we both manage to transition into our new lives here as Ticas (this is what they call Costa Ricans).
I started school today at the Universidad Latina which happens to be a prestigious university here yet it is smaller than the size of my high school. My experience as a student in another country is something that I never imagined I would have. Another blessing is the Tica family whom I live with. The “padres” don’t speak a lick of English but it’s good for me, I’ve never spoken so much Spanish in my life (and it sometimes gives me a headache) but I have already improved. They are very kind people and definitely like to talk! They showed me several unique fruits that we do not have in the US and I got to try some of them too. One interesting thing that differs from the US is that the hijos (or sons and daughters) of Tico families usually live with their parents until they are wed. In light of that, there is a 31 year old, 28 year old, and 17 year old living in the house with us. We are one big happy family.
Here’s where my story gets rather humorous. To set the stage, Emily and I walk to school. Our Tica mom walked us there yesterday for orientation and expected us to be able to walk back home just fine. Well, it was a 30 minute walk in a country I do not know like the back of my hand with strange surroundings in which I didn’t recognize. Also, keep in mind that when I leave the house I have no internet or way to communicate at all because my phone only works on WiFi. Emily and I thought we could get back to the house just fine, we learned otherwise. Never have I ever been so scared in my life. None of the surroundings looked familiar and Emily kept asking me “ok so was it this direction or this direction? What looks familiar from our walk this morning?” My response “nothing.” I was panicking and we were picking our brains to try to find some sense of direction in order to get home.
It was lots of trial and error. We had walked so far and nothing looked familiar, men were screaming cat calls at us and honking (which is VERY common), and I looked like a lost puppy. Emily kept telling me to put a smile on my face so we didn’t look like easy American targets in a foreign country. I was close to tears as I realized that we had to simply find it on our own because we had no way to communicate and Costa Ricans don’t really have addresses either. Then it started pouring rain and the skies were getting dark. I was feeling sick, my first full day in Costa Rica and I was lost wandering the streets and going in circles with no hope left in me. Finally I gave in and asked a lady on her front porch if she could direct us to the area in which we live in based off of the address (that is not an address but rather a description of the area) and sadly enough she pointed to the other side of town.
We walked that direction and were soaking wet at this point, my feet were blistering, and I just wanted to get home. We came to a Taco Bell and asked another lady for help and she pointed us that way. Then the road split. Did we come from the left side or the right? Crap I really don't remember. So we went left. Went up all of the streets searching for our house, after we had gone far enough with no luck we decided to back track and go right. Finally as the skies were getting darker, we were getting wetter, and my confidence was coming to an end, we tried the 3rd street and sure enough there was our house. An hour and a half later we had arrived.
Although it was a curse at the time and I was scared to death, it was a blessing because I’ve learned the importance of a sense of direction and making sure I know exactly where I came from and where I am going because I don’t have a car and I can’t call a friend to come pick me up. Looking back now I can kind of laugh, I sure hope it doesn’t happen again but what is the likelihood that the first full day here I was a lost puppy.
Another thing I have realized I take for granted is hot showers. Hot water hardly exists here and my showers are more easily comparable to an ice bath. They always taught us that with every bad thing there is a good thing, and with that in mind, the views in this country are spectacular. As I sat in my school cafeteria today eating my $4 Costa Rican meal (which was also quite good) I was looking out into the mountains and taking in the beauty of this land that God created. There is a reason all of us Americans come here in search of paradise.
Finally I am realizing that it is right in front of my eyes. There is so much beauty here and I have hardly even seen much of it. While I am experiencing culture shock right now, I know that this is the adventure of a lifetime. There is so much simplicity to life here in Costa Rica and I just need to stop worrying about things. It will just take some getting used to. Pura Vida.
Read more from Rachel at https://rachelscostaricanlife.wordpress.com/
Find out more about the ISA Heredia, Costa Rica: Business, Spanish Language, Latin American Studies & Courses with Locals program at http://studiesabroad.com/heredia
