La Familia

Apparently, I forgot to talk about who I will be living with. Oops! I will be living with a family of four. I have a host father, mother, older brother who is 21, and sister who is 17. I have a feeling that this is going to be great. Some foreign exchange students have problems with their host families, and decide to switch and live with someone else, but I am not too worried about this happening to me. I have a bit of information on the characteristics of the people who I will be living with, and they sound awesome. They like to travel, and seem to be really active, so I am sure that I will have a great time with them. They are also Christian. I consider myself very lucky to be living with a Christian family, and am thrilled to meet them in a month. I leave on July 16th, and will get into Costa Rica on the 17th. At that point, I have a two day orientation, and I will meet my family on the 19th, and move in. I don't think that the words thrilled, excited, etc. can even begin to cover this. Of course, I will miss my friends and family, but I feel like God is leading me to go here, and so I go. I would like to say a big thank you to all of the people who are helping me to get to Costa Rica, and for all of the people who are praying for me while I am down there. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How long are you going for?

Eleven months.

Are your parents going with you?

Umm, not that I know of.

Are you scared?

Not yet. Ask me right before I leave.

Will your family speak English?

I don't know yet, but I will find out when I get there.

Will your family speak Costa Rican?

They will speak Spanish, if that's what you mean.

Are you going to go to school there?

Yes. It's part of the foreign exchange student experience, especially the student part. =)

Aren't you going to miss your friends and family?

Yes. Very, very much.

When do you leave?

Somewhere around the 15th of July. 

Tilaran, Costa Rica

This is the area where I will be living. I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am. The land is so beautiful, I am not going to want to leave! I'm lucky enough to be living next to a lake, a rainforest, and a volcano. Well, truth be told, I am  bit nervous about the volcano, it's one of the most active in the world. However, I figure since it's constantly spewing out lava, it's already venting, and probably won't erupt. I leave in a month and a half. It's crazy to think that I have to start packing and getting plane tickets soon. I'm a bit nervous about leaving for a year, but I am more happy than anything else. 

I have a City!

I just recently found out that I am going to be living in Tilaran, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. This is a beautiful place to live for 11 months, and I can't wait to go. I will be living somewhat close to a volcano, so that should be pretty interesting. I have also been told about my host family, who I am very excited to meet in two months. Yes, I am leaving in two months. I am very excited to go, and I have so much to do already!

My First Blog. Ever.

Hello, I'm Hannah, and I'm an AFS student. I will be going to Costa Rica for my junior year, and I do not even know where to begin talking about it. I should probably start from the beginning. People like to ask me why I want to go to Costa Rica with AFS. The first question that I get is, "For a whole year?" And yes, I'm going to Costa Rica for a year to live with a host family, and I am so excited about it. As for why I picked AFS, it was the most reliable program that I had heard of, and I liked how safe they make students. Costa Rica, however, I picked for two reasons. One, I can speak some Spanish, and I thought that it would be nice to go to a place where I can already speak some of the language. Also, it does not snow much in Costa Rica, if at all, and I could really use a year without freezing temperatures. Oh, Costa Rica is also a beutiful country that really cares about education and happiness. 

I expect to gain a new view of the world and other cultures. The best way to learn about a place is to live there. I expect to become fluent in Spanish, and maybe help my host family with English if they would like to learn. In return for all that I recieve from going on this trip, I plan on giving back to my community. I want to help teach Spanish at my school in my senior year, be a better leader in my community with the skills that I learn abroad, and teach people about cultures other than their own, both in Costa Rica and in the U.S. 

I find it hard to believe that I will be leaving in four months. I know that I am going to miss my family and friends a lot while I am gone, but I know that I am going to get a new family and new friends while I am there, so it's not a bad trade for 11 months. I do have some challenges, especially financially. I certainly do not have an extra couple thousand dollars lying around, but if I did, I assure you that they would be going to this trip. As for fund raising, I plan on reading about useful techniques as well as asking my AFS advisors and former exchange students. I am so excited for this opportunity, and I would like to thank everyone who is helping to make this possible. 

~Hannah