Last Day with my Second Host Family

6/7/14

Today my host father took me to the drop off sight.  We will now be on our way back to San Jose, for our last night in Costa Rica.

My second home stay was different from the first because there were two children in the house.  The family tried to include me in their activities and conversations, but my lack of Spanish proved this to be difficult.  Within the two weeks we fell into a mostly silent, routine of coexisting.  It was not awkward like it was at first, but instead it became a comfortable routine.

Overall, I wish that I was able to communicate with them better, but through learning my small bit of Spanish, many hand gestures, and many understanding smiles, we made it worked.

I have learned so much through my homestays that I could not have learned in a classroom.  In the classroom, I learned 60 hours of Spanish, but in the homestays, I got to experience, how overwhelming and terrifying it can be to be immersed into a new culture where no one speaks my language, but I also learned the process of meeting new people, and learning to communicate needs in manners other than just language.  I learned that just like everything else, it is a process, and I am very appreciative of this opportunity, even though it was not easy.