Well my first day was what I expected, yet I was still left overwhelmed and exhausted.  After traveling from San Jose to my host family, I think it finally hit me what I was getting myself into. I had an intense bout of extreme homesickness and doubt. However, I know this is what I want to be doing, so I know I will get through it all.

 

My host family in Picagres (my home for the next 2 months) is nice and accommodating. Martha is a single mom with three children, Jimmy is 18, Damian is 16, and Meilin is 13. Meilin is definitely a teenager! And she will probably end up being my best friend here. After ten minutes of being at my new house, she already wanted to braid my hair and gave me her bracelets as presents. During my orientation week, WorldTeach had a “baile” or a dance. It was so fun because Latino music actually has “a way” to dance. Then, when I asked Meilin about dancing, she informed me that salsa and meringue were just okay, but reggatone was where it is at. And proceeded to play Sean Paul “Rompe” and 50 cent’s “Candy Shop” from her cellphone and shake her hips like crazy! Haha! I guess I will be just as bad at dancing here in Costa Rica. The most different thing about my new house is the house itself.  They leave all the doors and windows open, always.  The tin roof looks like it was placed on top of the house, so there is about a 4 inch gap between the roof and the walls too. It feels nice but that means whatever is outside can get inside too. This freaked me out at first, my mom told me to look at it like camping, but still, there are TONS of geckos, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and wasps.

My first day at of teaching was complicated, as I also expected. The students come to school at ALL different times, some in the morning and some in the afternoon, but the schedule changes each day. Even the director didn’t seem to know who was supposed to be where. Needless to say, I did not get much accomplished. But the students were so patient with me and although they ignored my “No Spanish” rule completely, I have a good feeling about these next two months. 

So far, I will be honest to anyone reading this- traveling in such a different place, with a different language, different food, different customs, and different people is hard and not much fun at first. I am extremely thankful for my immense support system at home in the United States though! This summer will be a great experience, if I can get over these nerves. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers, I feel them!