Every Wednesday students have time in the mornings to journal about their experience in a new culture. I have included some of Ali and Rachel’s journal entries from this week.

Ali-         “In Costa Rica, or at least in my family, I feel as though family is more important than anything. I feel that way about my real family too, but i love the way there is always someone from the extended part of the family visiting the house. They seem to know everything about each other and I think that is awesome. I got an excited feeling today when i realized how i am already understanding Spanish so much more. I also feel as though it is a lot easier to express myself and I now really enjoy the conversations I have with my Tica family because I am no longer afraid. I do not understand everything, but they are very understanding and patient with me. I hope that when I go to my next family, I will still have the confidence to talk with them as much as I do with the wonderful people in this family. “

Rachel-            “I finally met the grand-daughter of the family, Maria, who is 6 years old. She is the cutest kid ever. I love talking to her because I feel like her level of Spanish is the same as mine. Maria’s dad, Arturo, comes to pick her up at night and the other night he helped me with my homework. Arturo knows English very well and he is a nice outlet to have because speaking Spanish all night can be a bit overwhelming. Speaking Spanish isn’t the only new thing I have experienced here so far. During the first night I kept hearing all of these animal noises in the middle of the night. I pulled the blinds from the window and saw my neighbors had an animal farm!”