Last Entry: Time to go home!!

Today is May 17. The students said a tearful and sad goodbye to their Tico families yesterday and sniffled all the way to the airport. I also said a tearful goodbye to them, but today, they are waking up in their own beds surrounded by their US families. I will miss them, but am thrilled at the thought of waking up in my own bed on Tuesday morning!

I spent the rest of the afternoon with my friend Ana and her family. Her brother Marcel was celebrating his 28th birthday, and his girlfriend Lorena had a surprise lunch for him at her family’s house, so I got to meet her family: mom, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, and eat homemade Tico food and a luscious tres leches with tons of fruit on the top. Muy rico! After lunch, we played what I can only describe as parlor games: hot potato and a game they call Pablo y Pedro [Everyone gets into a circle. One person is Pablo, another Pedro, and the rest have numbers. Your number is then called out and you have to call out another’s number or name. When someone speaks out of turn or forgets their number, they have to move to the end of the numbers, so everyone’s identify shifts. I sat this one out because it was all in very fast Spanish, and I couldn’t keep up. La gringa did, however, win the hot potato game played with balloons. ] There was a lot of other silliness, but it felt good being with a family who has such fun together doing what most American families would think corny. In the afternoon, Ana’s family drove me to Escazú—the expatriate stronghold of Costa Rica--and where it is most Americanized. Too much so for my taste. The big buildings and houses were gorgeous, but the mall there was similar to many malls in the US—but with some interesting and different stores than we have.

On Thursday and Friday, I graded, took Linda and Cliff out for a "thank-you" dinner on Friday at a really nice little restaurant just blocks from my house that I had passed but never went to. I packed and unpacked and packed again. I have far too much stuff to bring back, and I hope I don’t go over the weight limit.

We had exams this past week, and then on Wednesday the entire group traveled up into the hills to a gorgeous restaurant called Mirador Ram Luna outside the city of Aserri. Many of the teachers went as well as Stephanie, and the Meso housekeeper, Maria Elena. I will miss their cheery faces and smiles in the mornings at Meso. We celebrated the end of a very successful semester with excellent food, a charming setting, and a phenomenal view of the lights all across the Central Valley, and watched as some of our group got pulled into some of the typical Costa Rican dances. I gave Linda a framed picture of the entire group on a huge plaster sea turtle at InBio as our goodbye present for all the wonderful work she does at Mesoamerica. What an excellent way to end the semester!

A week ago Friday, I went with some students to the Doka Coffee Plantation and got to see the process that the beans go through from the field to bag. I highly recommend this place because it is outside of the city on the slopes of the Poas Volcano and seems more authentic than the more publicized Café Britt tour, where you see a video instead of the real thing—and their coffee (Tres Generaciones) is wonderful! On Saturday three of us went to the local farmer’s market in Guadalupe to buy some last chance fruits and veggies—very colorful and lively. I then took a taxi to Moravia to pick up some last minute gifts.

So . . . I think that catches me up for the last couple of weeks.

Reflections on leaving:

I am, of course, very ready to get back to my friends and family, my garden, my kitchen, my comfort zones, but I would not give up hardly any of the time I’ve spend in Costa Rica. I’ve griped about the noise around the apartment, the rudeness of the drivers, the terrible condition of the streets, and the unattractiveness of San Jose, but we’ve all had a marvelous and very educational time here. I’ve seen a good part of the world, and Costa Rica has some of the most beautiful and varied geography of any place I’ve been and absolutely some of the nicest, most helpful people I have ever met. I think we’ve all learned to care more about the environment because we’ve been places where it is slipping away here because of development, poor management, or economic duress. We’ve seen how modernized and 21st century Costa Rica can be, but have also seen many aspects of a third world country; however, much ahead of the game as compared to other Central American countries like Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

Some of us learned firsthand about how good the medical care here is and how difficult it is to get around in a country where English is still not spoken well by many people. Some of us learned about the problems in the public and private schools in Costa Rica; how the legal system is different from ours; the rising teenage pregnancy rate and the cultural and religious obstacles that allow it to happen; and sustainability issues in resorts, hotels, and national parks. Others spent time traveling to very remote areas and discovering how hard it is to walk up a mountain, to a beautiful waterfall, or to a magical blue river. I’ve seen college students get excited over an elusive, beautiful, green bird, a clear blue sunny morning, hotels with hot showers, and birthday cakes made especially for them at Meso. All in all, I have seen great growth in my students and myself—the ultimate test of a study abroad experience. I will take home with me stronger Spanish skills and no regrets, but a list of things still yet to do, like visiting the Osa Peninsula where the Scarlet Macaw lives, seeing the sea turtles at Tortuguero, Rio Celeste, and a really spectacular waterfall. I will end this blog by not saying goodbye, but rather hasta luego (see you later) because I know I’ll be back to visit this beautiful and special part of the world.