Aero: Sarah Warner – Costa Rica 2016 – Epilogue

Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

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As I stated previously, this trip to Costa Rica was a trip of lifetime and I will always cherish the memories and everything that I learned. I signed up for the trip knowing no one that was going and flew back to Rochester with a group of new friends.  The time flew by and the trip was such a whirlwind but I will forget nothing that happened on the trip and I am so happy we were encouraged to keep a log of everything.

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Sarah Warner

As far as my expectations, I not only met them but also exceeded them.  I wanted to get outside my comfort zone and grow as a person. I have to say choosing to go on a trip on my own without family or friends is part of growth, but the relationships that I built and all that I learned and saw passed my expectations. I got outside my comfort zone, talked with people of another language, learned a new culture, tried new things, and was always willing to volunteer to do something crazy. One of my favorite things that we did while on the trip was visiting the girls home. These girls were awesome and had such positive attitudes, which is remarkable given their situation. Even though we spoke different languages, we still found a way to communicate and it was an awesome experience. Two hours of our time and the small gifts we brought made their whole day, which really put things into perspectives for me.

As far as learning the culture, I was expecting to pick up a bit more of the Spanish language being that I once knew it so much better. This is probably my fault being that every time I couldn’t think of how to say something I would ask for help from one of the trip leaders. Also, the host family that I stayed with was pretty Americanized.  They spoke English very well, and even the food that was prepared wasn’t foreign to us.  Outside of these factors however, I completely absorbed all the culture around us and it was fascinating to see how different things are between two countries.

To conclude, I will always have the memories that I made while in Costa Rica.  From all the laughs with our host family to diving deep into the cultural history, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.  I had a blast, learned a lot, and made relationships that I will hopefully have for a long time.  I am excited to take what I learned and tie it back to Occupational Therapy and maybe even visit again with some OT advocate ideas. The trip may not have changed my future plans, but it did give me a different outlook on certain aspects that pertain to my future.

Sarah Warner
LEAF Contributor
ML@FLCC: Costa Rica 2016

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