I knew how much I was going to love Costa Rica and it's people, but I never knew how hard it would be to leave. Now that I have returned to the United States, I get the chance to reflect on the four months that I lived in this beautiful country.
Here's a thank you to everyone I met and every experience I had.
At 4 a.m. I sat in the Juan Santamaria Airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica waiting for my flight to take me...home. But to me, home isn't where I grew up (otherwise I'd have to call at least 5 places home). Home is this unique feeling I have when there is a balanced combination of love for the people and the physical earth that surround me. For this reason, I waited patiently for my plane to take me home away from my new home. Talk about an emotional controversy. So, I flipped through my journal and eventually began to write my last entry in Costa Rica, when...
I realized..
That I will never think the same; thank you to the natural wonders of this earth that I got to see, smell, feel, and experience. That I will never be the same; thank you to the amazing people I met in Costa Rica. And that I will never be completely at home again; thank you, Costa Rica.
Living in Latin America
Taught me more than I could ever express through words. While it would be wrong to generalize the things that I learned to fall true everywhere in Latin America, I can say that Costa Rica gave me a new way to look at life.
A life through the eyes of Latin Americans themselves, as well as other travelers.
After the commotion of my first day in Costa Rica, the next day my study abroad program bussed us out of the city for some adventure.
Slightly lightheaded and definitely out of breath from hiking up a volcano, my program leader presented us with a topic that crossed my mind almost every day for the next four months. While just a blurb in European history, this topic is a pillar of the Latin American identity.
The brutal colonization that started over 500 years ago continues to affect the lives within Latin America every. single. day.
As I walked up the volcano and through the Bosque de Prusia (Forest of Prussia), I looked at this grand attempt to "Europeanize" Costa Rica. The trees within this forest were native to Prussia (a German state near the freakin' Baltic Sea).
So why was I walking through a pine-looking forest in the middle of a tropical country?
It simple: the colonizers that sailed to Costa Rica wanted it to appear more European. My program leader, Esteban, explained to us that Latin America is a region full of mixed heritages and cultures, which stem from indigenous peoples, groups from Africa, European settlers, and Asian immigrants. Despite such an amazing mix of cultures (and humans), there was and still is an ongoing pressure to act, look, and be more European.
It was that same day that I saw skin whitening cream in the supermarket.
Lesson No. 1
I must be aware of how my own presence in Costa Rica influences such an awful perception (that was constructed by humans and built upon for 500 years) that, because of one's skin color, hair texture, beliefs, nationality, or gender, one group is "better" than another.
For this reason, it was and still is crucial that I acknowledge how I've been granted unearned advantages based upon my skin color and nationality in order to avoid further repressing others.
Lesson No. 2
"You're from the United States and you speak another language?"
While traveling through Costa Rica and meeting people from Europe, Asia, and other Latin American countries, I was asked this question MULTIPLE times. Personally, I was never offended because HELL YEAH I speak another language, but it did bring my attention to the very little importance we as people from the United States put on learning a second language.
How many times have you heard, "If x person is in the USA, why can't they just speak English?".
Uh maybe because the USA consists of immigrants from around the world, including our own ancestors who might not have spoken English when they arrived. How many people do you know actually speak another language?
As English speakers we are granted a huge advantage by having a language that is most often learned and spoken around the world. But that does not mean our country should do almost nothing to promote learning two or more languages.
While I'm not yet fluent in Spanish, I can tell you from first-hand experience that learning how to speak another language is the best thing I've ever done.
In Costa Rica I connected with people without that annoying language barrier that keeps so many of us apart. Not only that, but language is a portal by which we have this amazing opportunity to understand how other people view the world.
I think I've become a more affectionate and loving human-being from speaking Spanish. I mean how could I not, every other sentence in Spanish involves "mi amor" or "linda".
Lesson No. 3
In order to keep this article at a readable length, because I could make it a book if I truly wanted, I'm going to keep the last lesson short and sweet. Live your life in color.
One of the things I miss most about living in Costa Rica is the abundance of colors; whether it be the bright orange, green, and blue houses or the watercolor sunsets.
The people in Latin America embody these vibrant colors.
Every morning that I ran, I was greeted with smiles and many "buenos dÃas". Nine times out of ten, my professors entered the classroom with smiles and a clear sense of joy to just be there.
Being a part of their culture meant dancing to salsa music, laughing and talking about real life things that brought about real emotions, and sharing an adoration for the natural diversity within Costa Rica.
The point is: why are we holding back?
Be passionate about what you want to be and pursue what you want to pursue. Feel what you are feeling because we're all humans and we all have EMOTIONS. Are we really living if we are not living vibrantly?
Una Monton de Gracias
An infinite amount of thanks.
I wake up everyday still in shock that I met the people that I did, that I experienced the beautiful nature and wildlife of Costa Rica and that Costa Rica/ticos shared their culture(s) with me.
Muchas gracias,
To the family that shared their home with me for 4 months.
To the professors that coached me through a foreign language.
To the amazing humans in my program that became like a family to me.
To my awesome program advisors.
To every friendly tico/tica that I met and will most likely never cross paths with again.
"You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will always be somewhere else.
That is the price you pay for the richness of
loving and knowing
people in more than one place."
-Miriam Adeney