Update from Aniiita (as they affectionately call me here)

Greetings from the 'eternal spring' of Costa Rica! Although I think often of the smells, colors, and brisk weather of fall back home, I’m still thoroughly enjoying living in a tropical climate. Life here continues to be wonderful, rich in learning, people, foods, and culture. I’ll share a few of my thoughts with you in this letter and look forward to more extended conversation when I return in a short month and a half.

U.S. ELECTIONS IN COSTA RICA
I found it so exciting to be abroad for the recent U.S. elections because of the global significance of the new presidential administration. Many Ticos share my excitement and are eager to see how the coming four years will affect Latin American and the world as a whole. The leader of my abroad program here has connections to the U.S. ambassador in Costa Rica so the other students and I received invitations to an election celebration at the U.S. Embassy on November 4. Ticos and Americans waited side by side in anticipation of the results and celebrated with food and beverages on the government’s tab! Being some of the only young Americans at this gathering, pictures of us made two Costa Rican newspapers on November 5 and my host family saw us live on TV as well! It was a celebratory, meaningful, historic evening.

CLASSES IN COSTA RICA: THOUGHTS ON DEVELOPMENT, POVERTY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND SUSTAINABILITY
Development, poverty, human rights, and sustainability—globally and with a special focus on Central America—are the topics that shape our classes here. I’m finding it invigorating and refreshing to study subjects outside of English and religion for a semester and, as with any meaningful learning experience, I am also challenged and frustrated by the material. The academic questions that frame our study are both exciting and overwhelming: Why have many countries in Central and Latin America had such a challenging history in terms of poverty, political corruption, and development? How can national and international policy makers focus on human development in addition to economic development? Why and how must environmental and human sustainability be the focus of development? What are the consequences that the world (and the region) is experiencing as a result of deforestation, industrialization, corporate agriculture, pollution, waste, and unsustainable development?

While these questions are fascinating and stimulating for me—not to mention imperative for the world—I struggle with the purely academic perspective with which we look at these issues. I think only looking at these issues academically removes some of our personal responsibility from the equation. While creating indexes for human development and compiling research about poverty or gender are important, if we neglect to ask how each of us can live differently in order to create change, I think little progress will be made. Challenging questions about our lifestyles, our actions and our involvements are largely missing from our program’s discussions (both inside and outside of the classroom). I think these personal questions must be asked side by side academic questions. And so my thoughts these days often revolve around questions such as, how do these issues translate into our comfortable lives? How can I live in a way that doesn’t deny others of resources, opportunity, and well-being? In what ways does the developed world need to “un-develop” to create environmental and social justice? In what ways should we look to the developing world for simpler lifestyles that don’t exploit the earth’s resources as much? In the past month or so I’ve developed some good friendships within my program which help me to explore these questions more deeply and help me to connect academic questions with those that are related to how we should live.

OTHER CHALLENGES WHILE LIVING ABROAD
One of the unexpected things that I miss while being abroad is having responsibility (don’t take this paragraph too seriously, Mom and Dad!). During these four months abroad all of my laundry, cleaning, and cooking is provided. While this is a wonderful luxury on the one hand, it also causes me to be ready to provide these things for myself again. I miss having a job where I earn some money before spending it. And whereas last semester at Concordia my commitments to organizations and involvements on campus sometimes felt overwhelming and burdensome, this semester I long for a community that demands more of me. While my host family now allows me to participate in some of the cooking and cleaning, and while we’re developing a really good, interconnected relationship, I miss having a religious community, a music community, and deep-rooted friends and family to hold me accountable and to remind me of how my actions affect those around me. I find that life in this study abroad program feels rather temporary and unsustainable because of this lack of responsibility and commitment. While many students in my program thrive off of this complete independence or unaccountability, this aspect of my experience is causing me to look forward to being more grounded and committed when I return home.

TRAVELING
Because my program schedules classes Monday through Thursday, I’ve been able to do a lot of traveling around Costa Rica on the weekends. Here are some of the highlights:

• Sam, Ben, Kristen (my Sioux Falls friends who are also volunteering/studying here), and I hiked up the inactive Volcan Barva near Sam’s home in Heredia. We also spent a night with Ben and Kristen’s host family in San Ramon.
  
• A few students and I traveled to Montezuma, a beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula (Pacific coast) known for its beautiful waterfalls, warm-water swimming holes, and live reggae.
  
• My host parents, Gaby and William, have taken me on two short hiking trips in the mountains where we viewed some of the most beautiful countryside I’ve ever seen and eaten the freshest of tropical fruits and vegetables.
  
• Three students and I made the long journey by bus and gondola to the isolated Tortuguero Village on the Caribbean coast in hopes of seeing green turtles lay their eggs. The Village is full of Caribbean character including one of my new favorite foods—rice and beans Caribeno, a dish soaked in fresh coconut milk with spicy, jerk flavor. We not only got to witness a mother turtle laying her eggs in the middle of the night, but we also saw a variety of birds while canoeing, a group of white-face monkeys chasing a bright green lizard (who we named “Jesus Christ Lizard” for its ability to walk on water!), baby turtles making the epic journey from their eggs to the sea, and a few huge crocodiles and caimans lounging on the shore of a lagoon. It is indeed one of the richest places of natural beauty and biodiversity!
  
• My two closest friends from my program (Amanda and Caitlin) and I took two long hikes in the rural town of Orosi. The village is nestled in a mountain valley near two volcanoes, making the soil rich and fertile for incredible plant life. The views from the mountainside were breathtaking and we also enjoyed talking with locals because of the non-touristy nature of the town.
  
• Our main program field trip included site visits to the Dole banana plantation, Earth University (a four-year school that offers agro-engineering degrees to students of developing countries with an emphasis on equipping those students to return to their countries and begin or continue grassroots environmental sustainability programs), a sustainable organic macadamia nut farm that also focuses on maintaining Costa Rican culture and traditions, and a sustainable Quaker dairy farm that specializes in homemade ice cream (where I milked my first cow and thought of the Wolds!). In addition, the final overnight of the field trip were spent in rural host stays at some of the farms in the region. My friend Mike and I stayed at an old woman, Chepita’s organic chocolate farm! Her humble, yet sustainable lifestyle included fresh chocolate milk at every meal and a patio that overlooked the Caribbean on one side and a volcano on the other! The field trip stirred dreams of organic gardening and opening up a café that specializes in local, organic foods and feeding the poor……:)

JOHN’S VISIT
This past week John (my boyfriend) visited for about five days! It was so wonderful to see him again. We traveled to Cahuita, a small beach town on the southern Caribbean coast, and had a relaxing weekend of hiking, swimming, biking, and eating excellent food. We walked the trail in Parque Nacional Cahuita on Friday and Saturday and saw a sloth and two kinds of monkeys. On Sunday we rented bikes and rode 15 km to another beach town, including a stop at Punta Uva where we found the most beautiful sandy beach lined by a palm tree forest with mountains in the distance. When we returned to San Jose John got to meet my host family and see the Universidad Latina where I take classes. It was a highlight to have him come visit!

ESPANOL, MY HOST FAMILY, AND FOOD
My Spanish is still certainly up and down, but I’m enjoying being able to understand and speak with a bit more ease. I still celebrate when I can get full sentences out with correct grammar, but my conversational abilities are at least a lot better than in my first weeks and I’m enjoying the challenge of learning the language.

I continue to absolutely love my host family. Our conversations over coffee and meals are so enjoyable and their patience and persistence in wanting me to feel happy and wanting to teach me Spanish is nothing short of admirable. I am so grateful for how easily and enjoyably we can live together.

Finally, I must write about the food here. One of my favorite ways to encounter Costa Rican culture has been through eating and cooking. Gaby buys a weekly supply of fresh fruits and vegetables from the ferria (market) of local farmers that come to our neighborhood each Saturday. And she is a firm believer in home cooked meals eaten around the table with family and friends—I couldn’t agree with her more. With some frequency, Gaby and I join each other in the kitchen for her to teach me some of her specialties. So far she has taught me how to make sopa negra (her black bean soup), tres leches (a famous Tico torte), arroz con leche (rice pudding), rice and beans Caribeno in coconut milk, apretados (coconut ice cream), fresh fruit batidos (smoothies/milkshakes), patacones (plantain chip-like things), empanadas, and corn tortillas. ¡Que riquisimo!

I apologize for the length of this message—you might think it’s been almost two months since I last wrote!

I miss you all, think of you often, and would love to hear about your lives. Send an update when you have a moment!