Aero: Marriah Gough – Costa Rica 2015 – Life at Home

Aero: Marriah Gough – Costa Rica 2015 – Life at Home
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Aero: Marriah Gough – Costa Rica 2015 – Life at Home

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Marriah Gough

Traveling to Costa Rica and being away from my family for two weeks was the biggest thing I have done on my own. The farthest away from them I have been for that length of time was at college, and that is only two hours away. Needless to say, being a home body, and coming from a close knit town, going across the country and living with people who speak another language, who I do not know, and have a different culture than mine is something else. I didn’t know what to expect. Before leaving for the trip, we were informed that Costa Ricans often follow by the saying “tico time” and “pura vida” meaning that they do as they please, and compared to us Americans, they are relaxed and not in any form of hurry to get anywhere. When telling them a time and a place to be, don’t expect them to be there on time, tell them a time earlier than your actual time if you want things to be accomplished correctly! Also, when interacting with the family and the family friends, everyone loved everyone; there was no hatred or sadness. Everyone always had a smile on their face and you could tell that the term family meant a lot to one another down there.

ML@FLCC Costa Rica
2015 Flickr Gallery

From day one all of us were always greeted with a hug and a kiss and good morning and goodnight by not only the family but the family friends as well. Everyone was so welcoming and accepting of us “foreign” students staying around for a couple of weeks. Also, Myra our host mom spoke only Spanish, she was very unfamiliar with English, but her son Pablo knew a decent amount of English which helped with translating at times. When communicating with Myra, we all talked slow and had things repeated as opposed to avoiding conversation completely like most people would do back in the states. She was very understanding and we were able to learn from one another, making it that much stronger of a learning experience. When communicating with Pablo, we used mainly English because he knew English a bit more, but still used Spanish around him so he was able to use his original language. Hearing them speaking English was like hearing us speak Spanish. It was much different; it was slower and still had an original Spanish accent to it because they do not communicate that way very often. It was fun; we picked on each other for it often. Staying with the families is what made the trip an everlasting experience. We were able to learn hands on things that we would not have by staying in a hotel or a classroom looking at a textbook. I was able to learn more about the Costa Rican lifestyle and culture day to day. By the end of the trip, they were my second family whole heartedly. I’ve never felt so at home before!

Marriah Gough
LEAF Contributor