Hello! I’ve successfully survived 2 and half weeks now in San Jose, Costa Rica! These few weeks have been extremely busy and filled with classes and trips, but I’ve been having a ton of fun! So instead of attempting to write a long recap post, I decided I wanted to share with you all four lessons I’ve learned in Costa Rica. Let’s get started…

 

1. Life is unpredictable. 

I love to know what’s going on. I can’t stand the feeling of not having control or not knowing what’s next. Well on this trip there have been lots of time that things didn’t work out like they were supposed to, but I was forced to just go with it. And you know what? I lived to tell the story! I didn’t die from plans not going the way they were supposed to. For example, some friends and I were taking a trip to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and we payed to have a private driver. Well when the driver arrived, he also arrived with his friend only leaving a small three seater backseat for four girls. We decided to go with it and in the end we got very close (literally and physically) on our 5 hour journey. We found the humor in the situation and decided to make it a fun trip by singing our hearts out to some good ole American classics 😉 What I learned from this situation though is that life and plans don’t always go as planned, but there’s always a silver lining to be found in the unpredictable-ness of life. It’s okay to just go with the flow, because in all honesty life is way too short to plan every single minute of it. Sometimes it’s fun to not know what’s next…

 

2. It’s perfectly fine to mess up. 

I’m my toughest critic. I never want to look dumb or make a mistake, and if I do make a mistake I like to argue that I wasn’t wrong. Well in Costa Rica where the language is Spanish and me being an okay Spanish speaker, I’m bound to mess up and believe me I have. But through those failures I’ve grown! Any time I speak in Spanish and make a mistake the people I’m talking with have been so kind to help me fix what I said wrong, and from that I’ve felt more confident with my speaking. I know that their help is genuine and it makes me not so afraid anymore to mess up. In fact, I’ve actually learned to laugh at some of the mistakes I’ve made. I’ve learned that I can’t hold back from doing something, because of the fear that I might make a mistake. If I do mess up, it’s okay! I tried, I failed, and in the end I learned. My mistakes can only make me stronger.

 

 

3. Do something that challenges you.

First, let me just say that coming to a foreign country with a pretty basic level of their language was very challenging. My first few days in San Jose had me feeling extremely self conscious and nervous. I wanted to turn around and go right back home, but since that wasn’t an option I began to open up and day by day conquer the challenge ahead of me. I had to leave my comfort zone, and for me that’s hard because I tend to avoid change. But this challenge has made me stronger both mentally and physically (The huge hill in front of my house kicked my butt (literally) the first week).

I also decided to take a mural painting class. If you know me you know that A.) I’m not an artist and B.) I’ve never painted a mural, but I decided to take this class because I really love art and I wanted to learn how to/make a mural. Although no previous background of drawing was required, I found myself in a room full or artist. Day one had me lost, confused, and ready to drop out of the class. But after talking with my professor (who has been incredibly encouraging) and also not being able to drop out of the class I decided to take this class head on. I’m determined to work hard and I’ve learned that it’s good to not take the easy way out. It feels good to work hard. It has taken a lot of focus and drive, but those were two things I, at times, lacked back home. I’m proving to myself that I’m capable of doing the things in life that challenge me.

 

4. It’s okay to just exist. 

This is one of my favorite things that I’ve learned so far from Ticos. If you want to take a nap, take a nap! If you want to sit all day and watch TV, do it! If you want to study, study! If you want to pursue a degree, pursue a degree! But know that whatever you’re doing doesn’t really matter that much, instead the fact that you exist is really what matters. Because you exist it’s a good day. You don’t have to prove anything to anybody or do something spectacular to receive praise. You’re loved and important just because you’re here. Personally, I feel like I always have to be doing something so that I don’t look lazy, but really it’s okay to just be. Do what makes you happy, but know that at the end of the day you’re still so loved just because you exist.

 

Life really is like one big classroom, you truly never stop learning.