Two weeks in a foreign country with no parents, a host family and college classes four days a week may seem challenging to some people, but to me it seems like last week.
I traveled to Heredia, Costa Rica with a group of kids from Learning Programs International from July 3 - 19, and it completely changed my life.
My host mother, 70-year-old Clara Guzman, had her nephew pick up me and my roommate, fellow Ponte Vedran Cassidy Healy, at Latin University in downtown Heredia.
We arrived at our house, listened to Clara explain something about showering and understood enough of her introduction to know breakfast would be at 7 a.m. — sharp.
Following a two mile walk to the school the next morning we toured the city and visited the smelly underground "central mercado." After having scandalous things screamed at us all day by the local boys, we were ready to go home and sleep for a few hours.
At night I took a shower, a choice between a hot one that sprayed all over the entire bathroom or a freezing cold one that actually had water pressure and a shower curtain. I chose cold. I solemnly swear I will never take hot showers for granted ever again.
Friday we woke up at 5 a.m. to go to Rio Pacuare and white water raft. After a two and a half hour bus ride and dividing into groups of six to eight, we rafted 18 miles down the gorgeous river, stopped to eat lunch and then finished the last nine miles. It was exciting, scary and absolutely breathtaking.
We wrote blogs about the previous week, went on a tour of the biggest coffee plantation in all of Costa Rica and while others played some futbol and went to the popular culture museum, I got sick.
I woke hot and shivering, and after a quick attempt to get a latte to warm me up from the local Bagelmen’s café, it was decided that I should go to the doctor. I had a 103 fever, a sinus infection and a swollen throat. They gave me two very painful shots and did some blood work and I immediately felt better. I did not have a credit card, so a classmate named Caitlin took it upon herself to pay for my $160 medical bill — something I will never forget.
We all bought our friends and families presents and then a friend and I ended up getting piercings. We explored, ate dinner and rested for the next day at the beach in Manuel Antonio five hours away.
Most of the people on the trip went on a dolphin tour and snorkeling trip but a few friends and I decided to stay back by ourselves. After a quick swim in the warm ocean, we went in to the small town near our hotel to eat lunch, walk around and again, buy more souvenirs.
We woke up on the morning of our last day and went to breakfast where we saw a monkey steal a kids banana. After that it was time to say goodbye.
The whole experience was one of a lifetime and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The relationships and memories I’m taking from it are ones that I know I’ll value forever and that opened my eyes to a whole different part of life, the world and myself.
Editorial intern Olivia Wilson is a student at Ponte Vedra High School and the 2010-2011 managing editor of the school’s newspaper The Tiburon.
July 31st 2010 - 7:32AM