Differences
so to say that i was a little out of place here at first would be an understatement. brandon and i joked a lot about how the pictures of the school didn't exactly represent what we found, and how we thought we were going to be in san jose but we are actually outside of San Jose in a little town called Curridabat. i was really surprised by how unsafe i felt here at first. after working in Juarez and growing up in Atlanta, i wouldn't think that i would be worried in Costa Rica. but i think it had a lot to do with how often i was told to be careful everywhere i walked and to never have my camera out, or mp3 player, or to never carry my computer anywhere even in my backpack. it's all part of finding yourself in a new place too and having to become comfortable with it. for these reasons i felt very hesitant about going anywhere without brandon outside of to school and home each day. any other time i have found myself in a new place, i would jump on a bus and go figure out the area. i didn't feel comfortable doing that here so it made me feel stranded to just be going between home and the school each day and that was it. now i realize that i'm glad i don't live in san jose, because as much as there is a concern about being careful with your things here, it's 10x more of a problem in san jose. and i stand out as a huge tourist whether i'm carrying a map and a camera or just walking by with my backpack.
Despite the adjustments, it's been two weeks now and i'm doing just fine. i feel a lot safer here than i did, it just took a little getting used to. you just have to be cautious, but that's true
of anywhere.
it's funny here, everyone's house has a gate out front and you lock yourself in and out of the house. very strange. you can't get back out of the house without keys.
in the shower there is a thing called a "widow maker" which thankfully i was warned about before i came. this is what makes the water warm, but if you touch the wires
or metal, you get a good shock. the more water you turn on the colder it gets, so if i want a warm shower i can only use a little water.
i live with Carmen, who is my "mama tica," (who is 63), her daughter Carmen Maria who is 33, and another exchange
student, Melissa, that is from Illinois but is attending the University of Costa Rica. Her mother is Mexican and she is pretty fluent in Spanish. She's going to be here the entire semester and has already been here a month or so. Carmen's older son Rudolpho comes over most mornings for breakfast. It took me a while to get figured out who everyone was but now we all get along well. It was strange at first because I thought it would be great to have another exchange student in the house, at least someone that could help me get my point across if i was failing miserably; but for about the first week and a half, Melissa would only speak to me in Spanish, even if we were just hanging out. now we've become friends though and it's definitely nice to have someone in the house that is more familiar with the area and is going to school here too.
Despite the adjustments, it's been two weeks now and i'm doing just fine. i feel a lot safer here than i did, it just took a little getting used to. you just have to be cautious, but that's true
of anywhere.it's funny here, everyone's house has a gate out front and you lock yourself in and out of the house. very strange. you can't get back out of the house without keys.
in the shower there is a thing called a "widow maker" which thankfully i was warned about before i came. this is what makes the water warm, but if you touch the wires
or metal, you get a good shock. the more water you turn on the colder it gets, so if i want a warm shower i can only use a little water.i live with Carmen, who is my "mama tica," (who is 63), her daughter Carmen Maria who is 33, and another exchange
student, Melissa, that is from Illinois but is attending the University of Costa Rica. Her mother is Mexican and she is pretty fluent in Spanish. She's going to be here the entire semester and has already been here a month or so. Carmen's older son Rudolpho comes over most mornings for breakfast. It took me a while to get figured out who everyone was but now we all get along well. It was strange at first because I thought it would be great to have another exchange student in the house, at least someone that could help me get my point across if i was failing miserably; but for about the first week and a half, Melissa would only speak to me in Spanish, even if we were just hanging out. now we've become friends though and it's definitely nice to have someone in the house that is more familiar with the area and is going to school here too.
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Kathy