THE GLOBAL EXPRESS

How the Ups and Downs in a New Country Turned Into an Unforgettable Experience 

04/07/16

Written by Molly Astarita, Vice President of the Wartburg College International Club, Second-Year Student

I had never been out of the United States until I got to Wartburg College. I went to Costa Rica for three weeks during May Term for a Spanish course. My experience there was amazing! I was so happy I got to go. Every day we did some journaling, and so below I summarized what I wrote down while I was there.

The first week I was amazed. I could not believe I was somewhere new. I had always wanted to travel and so to go there was really exciting. When we got there, we dived right into school. It was difficult to go into always having to speak Spanish. Back home, I felt like I only really practiced the language while I was in class, so every day was a challenge. The biggest challenge was talking in Spanish to my host family. It was easier in school to listen and speak because the teachers were accustomed to talking slower and being patient. However, my host family did not speak English and they spoke really fast. Even though Dr. Montgomery taught us never to agree to something we did not understand, I felt like I was always nodding, agreeing to what my host family said, and I pretended to know what was going on, when really I had no clue. Despite the difficulty, I knew that it would get better as I kept practicing.

The second and third week, school became really fun, because we were able to connect with the teachers more when we got to know them better. The teachers would joke with us and it was fun to interact with classmates. The classes were four hours long a day, but it did not feel that long since there were so many different activities and things to do that I loved school. Then after class, myself and the two girls I lived with would make the long journey back to our host family. (I swear, we had the biggest hill to have to walk up and we were the farthest… but hey I lost weight over May Term!) When we got to our house, it was typically time for supper. I quickly learned that if we did not eat all the food, our host mom was worried that we did not like the food and she would try and get us something else, even if we were full. So I learned not to eat much for lunch, that way when I got to my house to eat, I could eat more and make my host mom feel like we liked the food. Which we did! I guess in the United States, we are so used to wasting food that we feel like it is okay not to finish the food on our plate. However in Costa Rica, it was more proper to finish the food. (That is how I became the dog at the table as well… if my friend could not finish eating, she always gave me the food when I wasn’t looking and so I had to eat even MORE!) Ah. But the food was great. So much healthier than the food that Americans typically eat. So I was okay if I had to take another bite of fruit or bread!

The last week of being in Costa Rica, I remember I did not want to leave. Everyone felt like family and I had improved my speaking and listening of Spanish a bit! I liked Costa Rica because it was different and beautiful. I was able to see how important soccer is, understand the view of women in Costa Rica, see the way businesses functioned, and experience other cultural aspects. My favorite cultural aspect had to be the dancing! I wish that I could continue taking dance lessons in Costa Rica. In the United States, I feel like all we do is jump around and not have much meaning to our dancing. Whereas in Costa Rica, they have a lot of dancing styles that require a lot of

lessons and it had a purpose.

Overall Costa Rica was great. Yes, there were times where I did not understand everything (like the time I thought things were really on sale at a grocery store and so I stocked up on items, only to realize that the price on the tag was telling me what I was saving!) but experiencing a different country was really eye-opening and I was able to understand more about the Spanish culture