Pre-Travel

    I am going on this study-away trip to Costa Rica in hopes of discovering more about the language, culture, and people.  I enjoy meeting new people and I hope to make new friends and discover ways to relate to my future students who come to the U.S. and must learn English! I'm looking forward to experiencing a different lifestyle with the hope that I can learn  more about myself.  I want to see how people in Costa Rica spend their time and interact with their environment and their family.  I'm hoping to slow down and spend my moments absorbing my surroundings so that I can develop new habits that will continue once I come back to the U.S.--because I feel that my current lifestyle is too fast and impersonal.
    Occasionally, I feel a little anxious about meeting my new family and living with them in their home.  I hope that we will make a connection and that I will feel comfortable in my new surroundings!  I also hope that my new family will feel comfortable with me so that we can come together and share our cultures and lifestyle.  I know that we will have differences, but I hope that by coming together, we will become greater than the sum of both of us!
    I believe the experience will give me valuable insight in regard to students who come to school in the U.S. without fully understanding the language and culture that they now find themselves experiencing.  I also believe that the experience will give me a new perspective on daily living and afford me the opportunity to slow down and become more aware of my surroundings and the people that exits there.  Right now, I'm thinking back to 1986 when I traveled to Guatemala with my good friend Dan.  The people of Guatemala were so accepting of us and made us feel so genuinely welcomed to their country.  I have a feeling that Costa Rica will be similar.
    I know that my fears are generated from the unknown and the lack of control that exists concerning this upcoming experience with my new family.  What if they don't like me?  What if I don't fit in?  As an non-traditional student who is much older than the others, how will this affect  my new family's perspective and how they view  me as a person?  I keep telling myself that it will all work out, but there is some level of uncertainty that keeps nagging at me and making me worry.
   I'm certain however, that no matter how it turns out...I will have learned a great deal.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will be able to apply this new knowledge in my classroom and that it will always serve me well as I introduce students to new ideas and help them overcome their own personal fears.

We just cleared customs and met Justin!  Most awesome, amazing guy EVER!