Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Life at Home
Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Life at Home
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project
Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Life at Home
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Mary Erb
Something I (maybe) oddly looked forward to before the trip was staying with a host family. I can’t really say why the thought of it appealed to me, but it might have had a lot to do with the change of living environment and people. I had the advantage of already having met Maria Marta and her husband Marco briefly when they came to visit our Spanish class a few semesters ago but I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect. From the very initial car ride to the house, to the ride back to the airport at the end of the trip, the living arrangements were full of positivity.
I believe that I and my two housemates on the trip, Kevin and Tiffany, were all not only pleased by how sweet and friendly our two host brothers were, but how close and cordial they were with their parents. One of the first contrasts I noticed between Costa Rica and America was how in-tune and affectionate family members were with one another there. Another pleasing aspect of our stay was how well my housemates and I clicked from the first evening when we talked and got to know each other a great deal. That was followed by weeks of successfully sharing a bathroom, bussing each other’s dishes, spending downtime together, and just living in general harmony. We joked that this was miraculous considering we are the “only children” of the group. We settled into a routine of getting up every morning, preparing for our day, and having breakfast about a half hour before we would venture out for the day’s activities. Marta would usually prepare our breakfast which often consisted of eggs, ham, fruit, toast, jam, and orange juice. We were always amazed every morning by how fresh everything tasted. In the evenings when we had dinner there she and Marco usually prepared dinner together.
ML@FLCC Costa Rica
2015 Flickr Gallery
I definitely never had any issues sleeping, mainly because we were usually tired and because the room (Daniel’s room that he generously gave up) I shared with Tiffany was very comfortable. The first day we were there we scoped out the books on his shelf and found many favorite and familiar titles. Familiarity is probably one of the key words in describing my stay at Marco and Marta’s home. Our routine and the relationships we formed staying there all felt very familiar, and only when stepping outside of our host home did I feel that I was in a foreign place.
Mary Erb
LEAF Contributor
