When you picture “Spring Break in Costa Rica,” chances are you picture white-sand beaches, beautiful waterfalls, tropical drinks and pool-side lounging.
My spring break in Costa Rica was a little different.
For a week, I lived with a local family in San Joaquin (a suburb of Heredia) and volunteered at a day care in the center of the city, about a 30 minute bus ride from the house. I ate the local food (rice and beans all day, everyday), got around on public transportation (four buses per day), worked with underserved children and did not speak (or hear) a word of English for six days. I’m not going to lie – it had been almost two years since I had taken a Spanish class, so responding was not always easy, and my week involved a LOT of smiling and nodding.
This week was a major wake-up call, and, in the beginning, I experienced serious culture shock. The houses all have big metal gates; the tropical weather attracts many visitors, such as big bugs and geckos (inside!), and even though the people do not have “much” by American standards, they have everything we all search for: love of life and joy in the simple things.
The entire family I stayed with lived in connected houses. The grandmother (“Mamis”) was the matriarch, and her daughters and their families all lived nextdoor to one another. The “complex” was constantly filled with activity – high schoolers dancing, dogs barking, children playing, music blaring and motorcycles humming.
I don’t know how to explain the experience, other than the fact that, the entire time, I was in constant awe of how content, welcoming and joyful everyone was. It was evident that the entire family was clear about what was important in life: being together and being happy.
One of the highlights of the week happened at the very beginning when I met Valentina, the baby of the family. From the start, I played with her and talked to her. She would hold my hand and take me to her box of toys, and she loved to take pictures together (as you can see below). After a few days, she felt comfortable enough to follow me to my room after I returned from my volunteer work and jump on my bed, just to say hi. She was so beautiful, and one of the reasons I felt so at home at the family house from the hour I arrived in Costa Rica.
Halfway through the week, the family lost electricity for a few hours… at night (no generator). While the other volunteers who were staying with the family and I were worried about charging our phones, accessing the internet and going about our nights, no one from the family was affected negatively. They just accepted it and continued chatting and being together. My “host dad” quickly connected some wires and figured out how to use his car to fuel a lightbulb, and we all huddled around it. My “host mom” still managed to prepare dinner in the dark, and I ate rice and beans by candlelight.
Once I let go of controlling the outcome of the night, I realized that I was in the middle of a memory I would never forget. I also realized that I would choose this experience over being at a Costa Rican beach resort any day. I wasn’t experiencing tourism…I was experiencing life.
This trip gave me perspective (and a reality check), something I so desperately needed.
The day care I worked at, Semitillas de Vida, served primarily underserved children in the community. The children, who were between 2 and 4 years old, were so beautiful and bright. I didn’t realize how much I would miss them until I was about to leave on my last day there. When the teacher told them to say their goodbyes, they looked at me with shock and concern.
One of the children, a young boy who I had taught his first English song, (“head, shoulders, knees and toes”) earlier in the week, came up to me to give me a goodbye hug. Before I knew it, all 15 of the children were hugging me, one by one. It was so touching and a moment I will never forget. I felt like I had truly become a part of a new community, and it felt so incredible. It made me realize that although “belonging” takes effort, the reward for seeking out spaces and places where you can be yourself is SO worth it.
On my last night at the family house, I was sitting outside watching a group of girls dance on the patio. (Throughout the week, there were so many people coming in and out, so I don’t even know how, or if, they were related.) The girls were so talented and passionate about their dancing, and after watching for about 30 minutes, one of the girls dragged me over with a huge smile on her face and taught me some of her dance moves. It was so much fun, and another moment for the books.
Not once during the week did I feel like an outcast; everyone welcomed me into their world as if I was part of the family, despite language and cultural differences.
This week, my eyes were truly opened to so many things that I didn’t even know they needed to be opened to. This trip has made me realize that the world is so big, and yet so small. In Costa Rica, I discovered a whole new world of people and places and experiences that I didn’t even know were out there for me to find. I realized that nothing is the end of the world, because the world is endless. Now that I am back in the United States, I have so much appreciation for everything I have, but also so much wonder for what else, and who else, is out there to discover. We as human beings get so wrapped up in our daily lives that sometimes we forget to look around us and see the beauty in life. When hope seems hard to find, sometimes we just have to look a little harder, or travel a few more miles.
I feel like I have family in Costa Rica now, because I feel so connected to everyone I met. Despite all that makes us unique in our life experiences, there are so many similarities we share through our humanity. At the end of the day, we are all connected by the human spirit, which transcends borders, race, age and way of life.
Through our differences, we have the opportunity to nurture the human spirit that lies within us all.
La perspectiva es todo. Pura vida.