Procrastination at its finest (Gabriel, Costa Rica)

Just as my usual self I procrastinated this pre-departure blog post until the last minute… actually the last few hours. This unintentionally turned into a great opportunity to express these last minute thoughts, emotions, ideas, and feelings because as I sit in the airport now, it’s real. All of the planning, scheduling, and budgeting has paid off. Realizing that this trip is about to begin I’m feeling…all sorts of emotions. For the most part excitement is kicking in. This has been a moment I have been looking forward to for months now and the thought of how in just a few hours I will be in Costa Rica makes me almost impatient as I sit here (4 hours before my flight because my mom didn’t want me to be late). I’m optimistic in thinking about the future or what I hope to gain for this trip. Language and culture learning ‘through the fire’ or trial and error is what I am focusing on the most. I understand that my biggest downfall and obstacle that has been holding my language skills back is my attitude towards failure. I hesitate to write that this trip is going to change that. Because I know that this change must come from within. But I also know that I am committed to this. Changing my outlook on failure has been something that I have been working on for weeks now in preparation. Rather than writing this trip is going to change my nervousness to speak and take risks, I feel better writing that this trip is going to be an opportunity for me to showcase these changes. With this, I am able to come to terms with the idea that I am going to mess up. I am going to be at a loss of words.  I am going to have to shake my head up and down smiling even though I know darn well that I didn’t understand a single thing that this person just said to me. But I am ok with that, I am not going to be perfect but I will be trying.

Ok about my program, for 4 weeks I will be located in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, a small town located on the coast of the pacific ocean. During my stay I will be taking private Spanish lessons, while living with my assigned host family. Manuel Antonio is a great place to be able to start my lessons because of the smaller town and location near great outdoor getaways. After this, I will be ‘moving’ to San José, the capital of CR and will be not only attending private lessons but also volunteering at a local community children’s center. This location gives me the perfect opportunity to apply what I have already learned and use the change of scenery to practice in different settings. The big city also gives me the chance to help those less privileged than me and in tern they can help me in my learning. To make my time even more worth it I plan on fully immersing myself. What can be more immersive than living in another country you may ask. I will be strictly listening to only Spanish music, writing 100% in Spanish, changing my phone settings language, and even THINKING in Spanish. We’re going ALL IN. I will be translating my future blog posts so don’t worry, you can still keep up with what I’m doing. 

Until next time,

Pura Vida!

Gabriel Belt