Personal Journal # 5

Topic: Costa Rica Trip (Development as a Global Citizen)

From November 27 December 8 , our Connexions class flew to San Jos,

Costa Rica on a 12-day trip. Our main purpose of this trip was to visit a small village
named Boruca to live with a host family and paint school classrooms. We all stayed
with different host families in hopes to see and experience a different culture and
way of living. Throughout this experience, for me, there were three different stages
of the trip within Boruca, which developed many physical, emotional, and
intellectual feelings and thoughts which impacted my experience and enjoyment of
the trip.
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The first stage within Boruca was from Tuesday November 29 Thursday
December 1 . On arrival into the village, all our host families greeted us at their
local bus stop. Leo called each of our names and our host families name, did a brief
introduction and we headed to the house which we would call home for the next 7
days. The walk to the house was a little awkward as we didnt really know what to
say. When we entered the house, the daughters greeted us, and were shown to our
room.
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The MUD. I hated the mud. I dont know what it was about it but it always put
a damper on my mood. Every time we left or came back from the house, there was
a big muddy section Rachel and I had to walk through, wreaking my brand-new
shoes every time. I was so frustrated because of this. And than, Leo decided we
would continue our tour of the village, making us walk to Jordan and Shelbys house
which was about 15 minutes through a huge mud slide, downhill. I overreacted,
however, it was something I just couldnt let go and I kept complaining about it. I
was upset that my socks were also getting covered in mud and mud covered my
legs and pants all the time. I also hated that multiple times when I came home, I
needed to wash my shoes. Eventually, Mr. Smith took us to one of the local stores
and helped us order boots. That first time I decided against buying a pair, however,
I couldnt handle the mud any longer and decided to go and buy a pair. Life became
so much easier once I had those unfashionable boots on my feet :). This moment
gave me a huge perspective that we worry about the littlest things, when we
shouldnt and instead focus on the more important things in life.
Over the next few days in Boruca, culture shock greatly impacted me. On the
third day, I suddenly broke down. I kept bottling up everything over the past couple
of days and I couldnt hold it in any longer. Some of the things that impacted this
included the living, mud, and bugs. The living conditions were very basic with a
small house and the elements of nature were not playing in my favourite. The bugs
were enormous, and I know that its a stupid reason to have broken down, but I hate

bugs, and when you have a huge bug on you head and a large spider on your pillow,
I am bound to freak out. One of the feelings I experienced was sadness. I really was
not in the mood to take in the culture and way of living and instead looked to the
down side of everything. I should have been thankful for the food and shelter my
host family was offering to me. Going to the indoor soccer field that day, I tried my
best to compose myself, but I just lost it. I couldnt stop crying and everyone was
staring at me, and so I also developed a bit of embarrassment. Mr. Smith said that I
could go on a walk to try and compose myself and so I did, later coming back to the
field to only feel that I needed to call home. It was a comfort thing that I needed to
do in that once I heard the voices of my parents, I could move on and focus less on
myself and more on the mission of the trip. In calling my mom, I felt so much better
and could see my selfishness, evaluate it, and move on. I have experienced culture
shock before when I went away over this past summer on a 6-week work exchange.
The area which I lived in was isolated and my host family lived in a smaller house
than I was used to. I think taking the time to evaluate your situation and look at the
positive of it is defiantly a key to overcoming culture shock. If people live their lives
that way, you can do it, as its not forever for you. I wonder how many of us
experienced culture shock and how they coped with it? For me, I reacted poorly, but
I quickly overcame it knowing I needed to put aside my own feeling and focus on
the more important things as best I could.
Throughout the first section of the trip within Boruca, I kept thinking about
communication. It was very difficult to communicate with our host family due to the
basic knowledge of Spanish we had going into the trip. Rachel and I were lucky that
the younger daughter knew basic English, so whenever there was a barrier, the
mother or older sister would turn to the younger daughter and ask for help to
communicate. The main resource we used at the beginning was my dictionary.
When we were stuck, either our host mom or I would look at the dictionary and find
the word which was unclear, which helped continue the conversation. At first, I
thought the language barrier would be very difficult and I wouldnt learn anything,
however, the first night that we were in Boruca, Rachel and I sat out at the table
with the family and we started to play a card game. The younger daughter came to
watch and understand the game, and then called her sister in to play with us. A
basic game of go fish helped me to learn 1-10 in Spanish and learn new words
such as queen and king. Putting yourself out of your comfort zone and becoming
amerced in the language, even just for a second helps to break a bit of the barrier
and shows other people that you are willing to learn.
The second stage of our trip was from Friday December 2 Saturday
December 3 . The middle of the trip was where things took a turn for the worst in
our group. There was constant gossip and anger, resulting in a division between
people. We all began to experience painful bites, blisters, and cuts, and as well we
began to realize the reality of what we have signed up for.
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After I had to put a stop to the mosquito smoke device which began to impact
my asthma, and voice, I noticed just how basic our sleeping arrangement really

were and how bugs could get in and out easily due to the walls not reaching the
roof. Our room was quite small, with 2 single beds, one small table (night table) and
a small sized dresser. Rachel mentioned to me once that my bed had 2 mattresses,
whereas she only had one. I found this very interesting. Why did my bed have 2?
Were they unable to afford another mattress for the other bed, or was it a choice to
not buy one? Were the other beds in the house similar? Thinking back to the trip
now, I can see that I classified my host family as the poor thing other. I felt so bad
that they live the way they do, however, I can see now that they dont care where
they live, if they are with family. Back to sleeping, I found myself quite happy with
the fact that I had brought a mosquito netting. This helped me to sleep better at
night knowing that the mosquitos couldnt bite me. Just a side note that I noticed
also were the following. When I pulled back the sheets, I found ants in the bed, the
sheets felt damp and then later in the night it became suddenly cold. The cold thing
was interesting as I would expect the air to be hot and humid all night long,
however I guess that was not the case. I am very fortunate of my own bed knowing
that I dont fall prey to the conditions I experienced in Boruca.
Next, the emotions within our group began to raise a lot with anger. One
person in our group developed a very negative attitude which was like a virus and
spread from person to person. People began to gossip about others, which lead to
more feelings being let out. I for one developed anger towards that person a
couple of times when mean remarks were made at me while we were painting. I
tried my best not to get sucked into her negativity as best I could. Because the
majority of the time we spent together as a group was when we were painting, this
was when the division of people were visible. There were the people that decided
they had done enough work and took a 30 minute break or longer on their phone.
Or you had the people who continued to work, but bossed everyone around. It was
very frustrating for me seeing everyone sitting down and not helping to finish the
job. I wonder if anyone else felt the way I felt? Could there have been a better way
as a group, that we could have solved this anger which had developed? I think that
if just one person spoke up to resolve this situation then we all could have worked
as a team to overcome the remaining days in Boruca.
Lastly, throughout the middle of the trip I kept thinking about the food. Mostly
every meal was served with beans and rice. For me, personally, I didnt like the
beans so I decided to only eat the rice. Our host mom was nice in placing the food
in bowls and we could choose how much we wanted on our plates. The beans and
rice left me with questions. Does the family ever get tired of eating beans and rice
all the time? Is it in their culture to eat beans and rice all the time, or is it a choice
they make? How much beans and rice do they consume in a year? Is there an
alternate food which would provide the same nutrition which they could eat?
Another food I noticed they eat quite a bit of is eggs. They seem to incorporate eggs
into different foods including green beans, omelets, and sausage. Also, I noticed
they eat a variety of meat. The food is simple but filling. I had expected a ton of
fruits; however, this was not the case and only rarely were we given a type of fruit.
Overall though, I cant complain about the food as our host mom put time and effort
into making it for us and it was quite good for the most part.

The last part of our trip in Boruca was from Sunday December 4th- Tuesday
December 6th. Here we finished painting the school, had multiple dinners as a
group and enjoyed time with our families before we said farewell.
Throughout the whole experience within Boruca, I had a shower almost every
night. The water was freezing. Back home, we are not used to cold water while
having a shower. Our community all has the option between hot and cold water at
home, whereas in Boruca, their only option is cold. This to me brings a couple I
wonder statements to my mind. Is cold water more effective than warm water in
their temperature conditions? If the community had the option to use warm water at
the same rate as cold, would they take the offer? The one thing I found as an
advantage in using cold water was that it cooled me off after a sweaty, hot, and
humid day. I was physically impacted by the cold water, but it also opened my eyes
to the fact that not every place has the same available resources we have, however,
this doesnt seem to impact their lives.
Although it began in the middle of the trip, there was visible tension between
Rachel and I towards the end. If I said something, Rachel would come back at me
with a harsh comment. Constantly her attitude would change, ruining my mood, and
making me feel full of anger or sadness. It was really frustrating for me because she
wouldnt cooperate with me and instead she would eye roll, walk ahead of me, not
speak to me or snap at me. I, should have stood up to Rachel and pointed out what
we needed to fix, however, I feared how she would react, and instead kept my
mouth shut and continued to sit back as she acted towards me. Looking back to the
pink sheets, I can connect this situation to what we did in class with our partner.
There was one question which said Shes acting kind of weird now were in the host
community. Shes being kind of cranky with me, and it seems as though anything I
do irritates her. This situation is exactly what happened between Rachel and I,
however, I did not follow what we wrote down, which was to talk it out with you
partner and confront her about the issue. I should have stood up for myself, but I
didnt which was my mistake as she continued to ruin my mood day and night.
Finally, I continued to think about the Boruca culture, however, I am only
going to explore the tradition which I have noticed. I found it quite interesting that
Boruca follows the tradition of the old way in that men go out to work (carving
masks), and woman stayed home to weave, cook and clean, and take care of the
children. Today in society, this tradition has disappeared, as both men and women
work and have mostly equal responsibilities around the house. However, in Boruca,
this tradition still lives on and you can see it in almost every house. I dont like this
tradition as I think it deprives woman, and instead classifies them as being less than
the men. I wish this tradition never existed and I am glad that today this tradition is
mostly gone in many areas. Women need to be equal to men, and by confining
them to the house you dont allow women to explore their full potentials. I am very
passionate about equality between men and woman in that women can do anything
that men can do and they should not be subjected to the house unless they want to
be. In Boruca, we only heard of men carving masks. Where are the woman? I

believe that woman can do just as well as men do. How about if men weaved? Do
the woman in Boruca enjoy this tradition? I wish I could change this tradition to give
women the right to explore new job fields and feel equal to men.
In conclusion, if I had the option to go back to Boruca, I would probably not
go. However, I would love to have the chance to do another mission trip like the one
I just experienced to help a community in need. I can safely say that the number
one thing I have taken away from this experience is that I appreciate everyone and
everything in my life. I really wish things could have turned out better for me, but I
look at the bright side and see that our class did an amazing job on the school and
hope the little kindergarten kids love it.