I think I’m finally getting to the point of adapting to the new
country I’m in, rather than just comparing everything to my life in the
US. I’m starting to see the good in things, even though this drastic
change of life has been quite the adaptation for me.Living as if the glass is half full rather than half empty really affects a way of life. Yah, they don’t have Chick Fil A here (I’ve been craving it) and yah nothing here is precise or ever on time, but they do have platanos (plantains) and gallo pinto (beans and rice) and they do live life with a much lower stress level than we Americans do.
But wait…I was confronted by a Tico to not call myself an “American” when comparing myself with the Costa Ricans. He went on to explain that they themselves are also Americans; Central Americans. We are North Americans and there are South Americans and Latin Americans too. Whoops, guess that never really crossed my mind. We come here to their country and refer to ourselves as Americans and as if they aren’t as well. How selfish of us.
Moving on, I am noticing that things are definitely more “chill” here. Lots of stray dogs wander the streets of Costa Rica and it hurts my heart to see them looking for food but still so skinny. Today on my way to school this precious little stray approached me and began licking my leg and jumped up on me to catch my attention and pet her. She proceeded to follow me all the way into my school, and up the stairs, and into my class.
There is actually another stray at my university that the school has basically adopted as their mascot. All of the professors allow Chiwi (that’s his name) to roam freely in and out of all of the classrooms and the cafeteria in search of food and love. We see Chiwi at school almost every day, but today this was a new stray. After she followed me into class the professor said she could stay. I picked her up and she fell asleep on my lap with her head on my desk and slept through the entire class. This would never be allowed back home, but here they were more than welcoming of the sweet stray. It made my day and I wish I could have taken her home with me.
The Ticos are just used to living with less, and they’re content with it. Most don’t have hot water, they hang dry their clothes, and a volcano erupted 30 miles away about 5 days ago and spread so much ash into the air here in Heredia that you could hardly walk outside without ash attacking your eyes and your lungs. But the Ticos just continued on with their lives as usual. They still walked everywhere and school was not cancelled. Their response to everything? “Pura Vida.” The people here just don’t worry about anything like we do, and because of that, everyone almost always has a smile across their face.
I’m working on becoming more like the people here. It’s helping me adapt quicker and my Spanish has already improved drastically. I visited a beautiful graveyard just a few minutes’ walk from my house and took in all of its beauty. The graveyard was spectacular and the backdrop was the mountains. It was a very peaceful place and definitely a hidden gem of Heredia. Tomorrow morning we’re headed to Bocas del Torro, Panama and I can’t wait to add another country to the passport. Catch ya on the other side!
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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
