Los Primeros Dias

I wrote this post yesterday (Monday), but I just got my computer connected to the internet at the ACM building so I'm publishing it today.

I’m writing this post from my adorable room in the house of my host mother, Vicky.  As I start to type, I am surprised to note that even though I’ve only been here in Costa Rica for a day and a half, it’s already difficult for me to switch into writing in English!  I keepwanting to write certain words in Spanish, or use Spanish grammar.  That’s very exciting for me, because one of the most important things I hope to take away from this study abroad experience is more fluency in the Spanish language.

These first days have been a whirlwind of activity, and I’m exhausted in the best way possible.  I arrived in Costa Rica on Sunday evening and met my host mother, Vicky, her daughter, Laura, and Laura’s children María (Mari) and Julián Andrés (Juli), who Vicky takes care of during the day while Laura is at work.  The school schedule here in Costa Rica is different than in the U.S., and Mari and Juli are on their “summer” vacation until mid-February.  In the next few weeks, I’ll meet Vicky’s other children, Juan Pablo and María José.  María José is getting married in April, and while I’ll at my rural site doing my field research at that time, I will be lucky enough to attend her bachelorette party!  From what I’ve heard so far, it will involve lots of food and dancing, and I’m so excited for the cultural experience… but I’ll definitely need some dancing lessons before the big day.

I am so looking forward to getting to know my host family here in San José, and I have a feeling that the two months I get to spend with them will go by much too fast. I purposely chose a study abroad program that allowed me to live with a host family, because my family at home in the U.S. is very important to me, and I wanted the comfort of developing a close relationship with a family abroad.  Vicky’s family is very large, like mine – she has 13 siblings! – and I already feel content in such a welcoming environment.  I really enjoy seeing the relationship that Mari and Juli have with their mother and grandmother.  If Vicky’s family is any example, children are much loved and brought up well in Costa Rica.  Vicky spoils her grandchildren just as any good grandmother should, buying them cookies and making them their favorite foods, but they are also very respectful of her and are quick to help out around the house by doing dishes or setting the table.  I was also very impressed that both Mari and Juli were excited to wake up this morning at 5:00 am to accompany me to the ACM office on the bus!  It’s nice to have two little sidekicks, and Juli looked especially handsome in the St. Olaf baseball cap I gave him :)

This morning (Monday), the other students and I arrived at the ACM building for our first day of class.  The ACM building is very close to the University of Costa Rica, which is a public university that is supposedly one of the best in Central America.  It’s also huge, with 35,000 students – almost the size of the undergraduate population at UW-Madison!  The UCR campus is gorgeous and there are libraries and gym facilities that we ACM students can use.  I definitely plan on checking out the campus, because I’d love to make some Tico friends.  The ACM building is also beautiful.  There is a kitchen where we can store and prepare food for lunch if we want, and where there is a constant supply of coffee and CHOCOLATE from the organic farm where I’m going to be doing my field research!  The classroom looks out onto a picturesque patio and garden, with tables to sit and study or eat, and a box that the program director Chris Vaughn keeps stocked with organic bananas from his farm in case we need a snack.

The beautiful garden outside the ACM building

Our classroom

Today at ACM was a long day of taking Spanish placement tests and doing other administrative things.  We also took a tour of the University of Costa Rica and ate lunch with our future Spanish teachers at a café where I ordered a sandwich with a fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.  Yum.  I’m so glad that the water in most of Costa Rica is safe to drink, which means that we can eat most fresh vegetables and fruit without problems.  

And speaking of food…  Those who know me well know that I love eating and cooking food.  I think I’m going to get along very well with my host family because Vicky also loves to cook, and she cooks delicious, healthy food with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Tonight at dinner, she explained that we should try to eat at least five different colors of fruits and vegetables every day, and I was in heaven.  Just with dinner, we had corn, cooked carrots, and a salad made with lettuce and beets.  This was served with beans and rice, and some fish.  And last night Vicky made a delicious dinner of pasta with homemade tomato sauce, bread with cheese, salad with avocado, and chayote, which is a vegetable that is common in Costa Rica.  It tasted a bit like kohlrabi, but Vicky served it steamed – I liked it!  For dessert, she made homemade fruit sorbet with papaya, watermelon, banana, and mango… yum yum yum.  It’s difficult for Costa Ricans to understand vegetarianism, which is very rare here, and Vicky has already served me ham and fish.  I’ve decided that I’m not going to worry about that, though; to me one of the best ways to understand a culture is through its food, and I don’t want to miss out on trying any delicious “platos típicos” of Costa Rica.  I also don’t want to put an unnecessary burden on my host families.  So, for now at least, my plan is to eat vegetarian when I’m at a restaurant and there is an easy vegetarian option on the menu, and otherwise to eat what I’m served.  I might have to write a whole post dedicated to talking about the food sometime soon…

I look forward to exploring this beautiful country more during the next four months!