Costa Rica in Three Months

My biweekly reminder on my phone to get out a new pair of contact lenses this morning reminded me that I've been here for just over two weeks. Here's what has happened since I last wrote a week ago: Sadly, my latest teacher is not going to be next week. I'm a little upset, but she taught me enough that I hopefully won't struggle too much next week, as my new teacher doesn't speak any English. In other news, I've had a lot of great conversations with the students from Germany about both of our home countries, answering questions back and forth. It's been 1000% more interesting to ask real people questions I would normally look up online. Unfortunately, yesterday was their last day at school. They are beginning the volunteering portion of their Costa Rica experience in a different area on Monday. However, they will still be living nearby, so hopefully I will be able to meet up with them before I leave. To make the most of their last day, their teacher (and m...

I have officially been here for a week and two days.  Since I last posted, a lot has happened, which is why I haven't written in a week. I have tried many different fruits purchased from the  feria , or supermarket, and eaten traditional Costa Rican dishes I can't remember the names of (but are all very good). I've learned that the streets here have recently become two-lane, one-way roads, and the typical speed limits of 25 kph (approx. 15 mph) and 40 kph (approx. 25 mph) are mere suggestions: the perfect combination for a headache. There are also two different police forces: one that only deals with traffic violations,  los transitos , and another that deals with everything else,  la fuerza publica . On Monday, I went to my new school for the first time, and met the formerly stray dogs that live there. My dad left to go home on Tuesday, which was hard and another adjustment. But, while I love my parents very much, I know it's going to be good for me to be away fr...

I am posting this from Costa Rica, but lack of a strong WiFi connection at the airport prevented me from writing about my travels. While the journey officially began yesterday morning, it felt like it started when I had to say goodbye to the people I love earlier in the week. I have never been away from them for more than a couple weeks at a time, so three months is quite a big jump. Saying goodbye to friends I've known since kindergarten, are in college, and are currently driving all the way to Florida for college, brings on a kind of pain I've never felt. By the time Thursday morning rolled around and it was time to leave home, saying goodbye to my family and my dogs was like salt in the wound. But, I know with everything I will be doing here, my days will be full and time will fly by. When the time comes to go back home, I know it's not going to be easy to leave my family here behind. As far as actually travelling goes, it was mostly smooth sailing. My dad came with m...

Hello everyone! My name is Tate, I am 17, and on September 12th, I will be leaving Ohio and travelling all the way to Costa Rica for three months! I will be staying with family that lives there while I am attending a Spanish immersion school to soak up as much of the language as I can while I'm there. In addition, I will be volunteering at my seven-year-old cousin's school to teach them a short play of my choice (more to come on that). I hope you keep up to date with my adventures there as I post about it on here, and via videos on my YouTube Channel !  x