Teaching in Costa Rica - "The Most Memorable Experience of my Life"

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Teaching in Costa Rica - "The Most Memorable Experience of my Life."

Traveling to Costa Rica to volunteer with Tropical Adventures at La Escuela del Rio Negro was unmistakably the most memorable experience of my life as of yet.

I first arrived at the San Jose airport and after being dropped off at the bus stop I quickly realized that for the next two weeks interactions in English may be very scarce (besides those with Tropical Adventures Staff). Having studied a lot of Spanish in high school, I quickly adjusted and began talking with the locals and ended up having very interesting discussions. Being comfortable with Spanish was a must once I met my host family, who spoke only Spanish.



Living with a host family is a unique experience to say the least. I believe it is the best way to see the biggest cultural differences in Costa Rica in the shortest amount of time. I was exposed to different foods, lifestyles, and even some foreign TV programming. I always felt safe and accepted with my host family. The school at which I volunteered was also right across the street. Not only was this convenient, but it allowed me to get to know students from the school before and after classes; some students were even friends with Berta's (my host mom's) grandchildren, and thus were constantly running throughout the house! The students were cute, funny, but most importantly seemed heavily enthused about learning English. I almost forgot, they were amazing at Frisbee!



In addition to volunteering, I also had some time set aside to indulge in some tours of Costa Rica's natural attractions. White water rafting and zip lining through the rainforest turned out to be an awesome way to see some beautiful sights and experience true adventure in the wild. I was lucky enough to meet some awesome people on both tours and have an overall great time!

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