Greetings family and friends!

I can hardly believe that I’ve already been here for two and a half weeks. The time has flown in part because the newness and difference of this place is stimulating and in part because the time here has been wonderful so far. It really is a beautiful place; rich in natural beauty. The gates in my neighborhood of Curridabat (near San Jose) spill out plants of deep greens and exotic flowers of all colors. And the mountains that surround the valley of San Jose bulge with abundant trees. It is a very exciting place to be studying for four months!

When I first arrived in San Jose, it was late in the evening and I was taken straight from the airport to my host family’s home. I greeted my family with a confident “Hola,” kisses on the cheek, and a smile—that was about our most effective communication for the evening, as my Spanish is very poor. Nonetheless, I managed to tell them that I am from Dakota de Sur (South Dakota), that it’s very cold there in the winter, and that the mango they fed me was “muy rico!”

In the weeks since their initial warm greetings, my host family and I have already gotten to know each other quite well. They are gracious, welcoming, gregarious, relaxed, and fun. The house is lively, with friends coming and going as they please. As my mother happily admits, they are “muy popular.” Gaby, my host mother, is a sweet, laid back woman who loves to talk, exercise, joke around with her children, and cook. She sets a tone of ease and joy in the house, which puts any of my anxieties about entering into a new family to rest. She is very diligent about helping me learn Spanish. We have informal lessons nightly and I learn so much from her. She calls herself mi mama y mi professora de espanol, and she succeeds greatly at both roles. Among my highlights of the first weeks here have been long, enjoyable conversations with Gaby. Some days I’ll return to the house and she’ll drop what she is doing to talk for up to two hours. It is simply delightful and incredibly helpful. I anticipate learning a lot from Gaby, not only about the Spanish language, but also about how to relax, enjoy life, and be hospitable.

My host father, William, is equally wonderful. He is an affectionate, sweet man, who runs the small, neighborhood supermarket with Gaby. As I continue to stutter with my broken Spanish, he continues to encourage me, saying that Spanish will be very difficult during the first and second months, but by the fourth month my Spanish will be “perfectissimo!” He, too, is full of patience when talking with me and full of excitement for teaching me.

I have three host siblings: Bayrum (pronounced Brian), who is 21 and who I’ve connected with most; Francini, who is 18 and a high school student; and Joan (a boy, pronounced jo-On), who is 13 and also a student. It’s great to have a full house, and all of them are remarkably welcoming and friendly.

My host parents love to exercise, so in my first couple days here I found myself sweating profusely in “la clase de spinning” (stationary biking class) and in “la clase de baile” (dance class, including meringue, swing, and salsa). I also love going running with Gaby and thoroughly enjoyed hiking in the nearby mountains with the whole family.

My first weekend here I traveled on the bus to the Pacific coast with three other students. We had a blast hiking in Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, jumping enormous waves in 80 degree water, searching for and finding monkeys in the wild, enjoying beaches that were neither commercial nor crowded, staying at an inexpensive hostel, and getting to know one another. Last weekend a few friends from my program traveled to the Caribbean coast and had another weekend full of natural beauty and fun. This coming weekend will be filled with me teaching Gaby to make homemade bread and Gaby teaching me to learn more Spanish. Wish me luck with my bread-baking vocabulary!

I must say a few words of gratitude before I close this message. Even as it is becoming commonplace for students in my generation to have at least one abroad experience and exposure to at least one other language, I regard the opportunity to be here as sheer privilege; one that must not be assumed. I am so thankful to be given both the joy and the discomfort of studying abroad. I am thankful for classes that will stretch me in new ways, for the ‘eternal spring’ weather of San Jose, for gracious strangers who accept my daily stumbles as I adjust to the language and the culture, for afternoon coffee break during the predictable daily rain, and for the way this experience causes me to be open to challenges, surprises, and awe-inspiring beauty.

I hope you are all doing well, I think about you often, and I would love to hear about your lives!

Peace,
Anna

Oh dear—I just realized that I haven’t yet mentioned my classes! Very briefly, I’m taking five classes through a Costa Rican organization called Centro Internacional para el Desarrollo Humano (the International Center for Sustainable Human Development). We take classes from international professors at Universidad Latina, Costa Rica’s largest private university located in San Pedro (a 40-minute walk or a 20-minute bus ride from my neighborhood). This week, we’re having our second class sessions and so far the course content is very stimulating. I am taking Human Development and Poverty in Latin America; the Politics of Democracy and Development in Latin America; Current Environmental Issues of Latin America; Justice, Gender, and the Challenges of Development; and Spanish. They’re providing an exciting contrast to my English and religion classes back at Concordia and I’m looking forward to the learning!