Samara, Costa Rica
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity, through the generous support of The Improve Group, to travel to Samara, Costa Rica to do a Spanish immersion program at the Intercultura Language School . Samara is a beautiful little beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula, with just the right amount of both Costa Rican and foreign tourists. I never felt as though I stood out too much, but at the same time I got to know many familiar faces during my stay. While in Samara, I lived with a family to ensure that I spent all of my time speaking Spanish. Luckily, my host family owned a restaurant, Jardin Marino, so I ate very well! I took my breakfast of fresh fruits including papaya, bananas, watermelon, and apples every morning with a fresh smoothie of guanabana (soursop) or mango. On some mornings I opted for gallo pinto, a tasty mix of fried rice and beans with scrambled eggs. Generally for lunch I went out with my fellow students and then joined my family for dinner at the restaurant. I enjoyed sampling a wide variety of foods from their menu, including the traditional comidas with rice and beans, salad and some form of poultry, meat or fish. I also loved having plantains on a regular basis; a food that I dearly miss from my years in Mali.
Gallo pinto
Classes were four hours per day, with an additional two hours worth of homework, so I was able to absorb a large amount of Spanish in a short amount of time. One of the major challenges that I faced in learning Spanish, as anyone who is multi-lingual knows, was having French and Bambara streaming through my head. This was frustrating at times, and particularly when speaking to my host family, often thoughts would either compose themselves in French and Bambara or they would actually come out of my mouth that way when I was sure I was speaking Spanish. We had a lot of humorous conversations; luckily my family had a good sense of humor. Over dinner they would often ask me which language was streaming through my head that day?
My good friend from studying in Amsterdam managed to come visit me in Samara as well. He just happened to be on holiday from his native England at the same time. So the two of us spent a nice weekend in Samara and then headed to the capital city of San Jose to meet up with another friend of ours who is Costa Rican and happened to be visiting her family for Christmas. One of my former co-volunteers from Mali (who is also Costa Rican) was also visiting his family for Christmas, so we spent a great day touring the downtown San Jose area and central market.
It was lovely to be able to see so many of my dearly missed friends.
Overall it was a very enjoyable and educational experience! I would highly recommend an immersion to anyone trying to learn a language; it is truly one of the fastest ways to gain confidence in speaking. As I gain in proficiency in my new language I hope to use it assisting Spanish speaking clients who are interested in working with the Improve Group.
Danielle with her Host Dad
