5 Days from Departure

After several months of anticipation and planning, we embark on a three-week cultural immersion program in Costa Rica this Friday at 8 AM. Included in my group are 7 university students (6 from UNCW and 1 from UNC Asheville) and a faculty colleague in the Elementary department. Pre-departure meetings during the past two months have initiated meaningful dialogue among students and us, ranging from cultural norms and useful Spanish expressions to the rich biodiversity we’ll soon observe in person. These meetings have left me feeling confident and appreciative to be traveling with such compassionate and intellectually curious students, each eager to learn as much as possible through this unique program with the ultimate goal of becoming a better teacher. Coupled with anticipation, I also feel a bit nostalgic remembering how I felt as a young twenty-something the week before I left the U.S. to teach in France. Who will I meet? How will I interact and navigate new situations (especially in a foreign language)? Will I become homesick? I imagine my students have these same thoughts racing through their minds. I can also project into the future, months and years after we return June 3, knowing their lives will be forever impacted by this experience (mine, too). What an amazing opportunity for all of us.

Last week, we received our home stay placements. Each individual will live alone with one family in Heredia (Week 1) and one family in Monteverde (Weeks 2-3). These families are diverse in make-up and ages of their family members. I have heard such wonderful anecdotes from students who have traveled through this program in previous years, especially about their mama Tica! The experience of being welcomed into not one, but two, familias Ticas is something I look forward to very much.

Throughout the three-week program, students (and faculty) will conduct research on an area related to their specializations. Topics include Costa Rican culture (including the concept of national happiness), the educational system, environmental sustainability, and more. Some will observe familial interactions to study how literacy is fostered in the home and at school. Others, how the environment is integrated into Costa Rica schooling. We will each post our “wonderings,” observations, and reflections as we learn more.

Tomorrow, I will begin wrapping up this semester and preparing for departure Friday morning. I have made a packing list, a to-do list, a mental list. I am certain that the experiences that await us cannot be truly planned, however, and so my group has agreed to ‘go with the flow,’ to be patient and flexible, and most of all, to be open.

In just five days, we will receive our first Costa Rican embraces and the first of many “¡pura vida!” I cannot wait.

Elizabeth