24 hours of chaos

I already miss my group of kids from Indiana. There is just something special about people from the Midwest, being open and friendly and just really nice in general...not that I am biased or anything, haha!
In any case a group of 22 twelve-year-olds was more managable than the folks I am with now...! It seems that adults tend to make a lot more fuss when removed from their comfort zone, and can be a little more...delicate?



After dropping my kids off at the airport Sunday morning and making sure they got through security, I took a bus to Liberia (about 20 minute ride) and had lunch, and waited for a pick-up.
First impression was great! This group seemed full of friendly folks, with lots of good questions. We arrived on time to the school to do testing and orientation, and all the new students sat down to take thier written and oral entrance exams...this helps to place them in the correct level of Spanish, so the teacher knows where they are starting from and what to work on in class. One student was a mother who is a beginner...and after taking one look at the exam she totally broke down in tears! And decided not to study.
I can understand feeling overwhelmed when faced with a learning challenge, and the frustration of having to start learning another language from scratch...I was there once! And it is a challenge. But I was surprised by this woman's reaction...it seemed overdone.
So a crying adult...well at least it wasn't a crying student! And at least we knew from day one that she decided not to study, instead of a mid-week meltdown...!
Afterwards I went with everyone to meet thier new host families. This region of Guanacaste is pretty rural and the locals live more removed from the commercial beachfront properties, more inland and not usually right on the ocean. Most do not have air conditioning, or running hot water, or all the things we North Americans consider "necessities." Homes are smaller and simpler, many older folks do not speak English, and to keep cool they drink lots of liquids and keep doors and windows open. In an uncommon and unfortunate turn of events, the water was out Sunday night in the host family neighborhood. In talking with my Mama Tica she told me that this happens from time to time, but that in the morning it would be back on, no worries. Around 9pm I got a call from the profesor of my group, very anxious and concerned...how are the students to bathe? What will they drink? Could we have them stay elsewhere? So after 10 minutes of calls and reassuring her, we agreed to see in the morning how everyone was and go from there. I ended up getting everyone to school early to shower, and by the time class started the homestays all had water again...but this professor was not content. After only one night with a host family, almost all of the students left to stay in some nearby apartments maintained by the school. The reasoning was that they were afraid of the water running out, and expected a different environment. And they were very lucky that there was room in the apartments, otherwise they would have had to stay with the host families.

Bottom line? SUCK IT UP! If you come to another country and expect everything to be the same as where you are from, you are sadly mistaken. Not everyone lives the North American lifestyle, and you have to come with an open mind to really appreciate and get the most out of any intercultural experience. I was embarassed for the students and sad for the families (after working to prepare thier homes to recieve a student, and then have the student leave after only one night!)...and I think this group has already given me more gray hairs than my kids from Indiana.


Having an open mind and being flexible make you a good cultural ambassador and make your trip and experience more fun.
Hoping the rest of the week goes smoothly, after 24 hours of chaos.


Pura Vida.