Hacer Errores by Rachel Black

Beautiful sunset over downtown San José

            I tried to smile and look relaxed as I stood in front of my small Spanish class at the Costa Rican Language Academy in San José. My face was red and my palms were starting to sweat. My hands and voice were shaky and I felt like each sentence was coming out slower and slower. “No, that’s not the right word; that conjugation definitely wasn’t right,” I thought to myself. It was only a small presentation, but I hadn’t been that uncomfortable and my Spanish hadn’t been that jumbled since middle school.

            Before this portion of the trip I knew my knowledge of Spanish was limited, but I kept saying how I was excited to learn a lot and practice during our time in the city. However, when the time came to give a small presentation in front of my class or start speaking Spanish to my host family I was actually incredibly nervous, timid and frustrated that my Spanish wasn’t better. I constantly beat myself up for sounding ridiculous or not being able to express exactly what I wanted to say; then I would become even more frustrated that I was so uncomfortable and afraid to talk. One step forward, two steps back.

            During the first few days I wasn’t looking forward to going to class because I was constantly anxious that I was going to mess up. But as the days progressed I realized that was one of my professor’s main goals: not to make us feel anxious, but to push us outside of our comfort zones. We would be put on the spot and asked to improvise in Spanish, but it wasn’t about constructing the most eloquent sentence possible from vocabulary and grammar we already knew, it was about making mistakes, sounding silly and learning in real time.

            Although this first round of classes only lasted two weeks I saw a huge improvement in my comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and confidence while speaking in Spanish. Most importantly, however, I realized that learning is often about making mistakes yet having grace with myself to learn from them and move on. Just because I “got over” my fear of public speaking when I was younger doesn’t mean I should get frustrated at myself when I become nervous again while speaking in front of others; it’s all part of the process. In life, learning doesn’t follow a perfectly linear trajectory, and these classes have shown me that trading my perfectionistic tendencies for mistakes and grace is what real learning is all about.

Saving the Tiger Leaf Frog by Sarah French

Tiger-striped leaf frog (Phyllomedusa tomopterna) (Learn more about this species through the Veragua Foundation for Rainforest Research)

The other night I had the opportunity to sit in on a lecture given for a graduate class on conservational architecture at Las Cruces field station. The lecture was given in Spanish on a project done to help create artificial habitats for the tiger leaf frog, which is greatly at risk of extinction. The largest reason for this is loss of habitat, though environmental changes play a significant role as well. 

            The natural habitats were examined and artificial breeding grounds created with tires and tarps to hold stagnant water to mimic the natural ones as closely as possible. This raised the discussion about what other types of habitats were being inadvertently created, such as those for mosquitoes that could potentially carry diseases, what the health implications are, and how those weigh against the benefit of saving one species from extinction.

            Attending this lecture, and understanding what was being spoken about, was a great confidence boost for me. I can get by well with my Spanish and hold conversations, but I’m always aware that people are speaking slower and enunciating more than normal for me to understand. This class was a good challenge to listen to true Spanish being spoken in an academic context, as opposed to the more difficult, colloquial Spanish of the conversations at meals and on the bus on which I try to eavesdrop for the practice.

Oftentimes there are guest lecturers presenting at my university, but I have not taken up the opportunity more than a handful of times. Here, I strive to take every possible opportunity to go out of my comfort zone and learn, from a night nature walk with a photography class from Stanford at La Selva, to this lecture in Spanish. Though there were moments in the lecture where I did not understand what was going on, I understood much more than I had expected, and learned a lot. This goes for most of my new experiences here, and I will do my best to bring this new element of adventure home with me.

Meeting Abuela Tica by Amanda Strong

Finally, it came time for us to spend two weeks in San Jose. During these weeks we were to stay with a Costa Rican family whilst taking courses at the Costa Rican Language Academy. It hadn’t really kicked in yet that I would be living with a new family and adjusting to a new routine. The morning of our departure to our new homes went by very quickly- much more quickly than I had been prepared for. I felt a bit nervous and very excited. I was a bit ashamed of my Spanish speaking skills and didn’t want my new family to be disappointed in me. I mean, who comes to someone’s home to live for two weeks and doesn’t know how to speak their language? Of course, they were completely aware of my Spanish level, but I suppose it’s just the principle of it that bothered me.

            Before I knew it, we were parked in front of a house and my name was called. In about three minutes all of my bags were in the doorway and I was watching the bus as it continued on its journey to drop off my colleagues to their new homes. To my relief, I was greeted by a small, elderly lady who was very relaxed and seemed pretty happy to see me. When I explained to her that my Spanish is not good and that I wanted to work on it as much as possible, she looked at me with assuring eyes and replied, “next week, we will be talking much better” in Spanish. As simple as it sounds, her words were just what I needed to perk up. From that point on, we had very simple conversations in Spanish. We talked about her herb garden (which I was naturally obsessed with) and her family. Every now and then we would laugh at ourselves for not being able to find the right words to say in order to understand each other.

            For the rest of my two weeks there, she would always sit close to me at the table and talk to me- like, really, really talk to me. She seemed to be genuinely interested in my family life and what I wanted to do in my future; what’s even more outstanding is that she remembered everything I ever said about myself, even things I didn’t remember telling her. Sometimes, she would watch me so closely that she knew my habits (likes and dislikes) without me ever saying a word, and she adjusted to me without having to ask. She was also very supportive when I lost my Uncle on the last week of my visit. At the time, you may have mistaken her for being more heartbroken about it than I was; that’s how much she cared. She checked up on me and encouraged me every morning to have a bright day. Sometimes it’s the small things that help a person move forward with positivity. For me, she was that person for those two weeks- not only in my Spanish, but just in my life.

Perceiving Culture by Sarah Nuss

Having spent the past month at a biological station in the rainforest, going to San Jose for our two weeks at the Costa Rican Language Academy (CRLA) could not seem like any more of a contrast. At first, the shift from tranquil nature to buzzing city was overwhelming, especially because I have never really considered myself a “city person.” However, once I caught up with pace of the crowds, noises, and overall lifestyle again, I was able to see a whole different aspect of Costa Rican culture that we hadn’t experienced yet.

            I started off by trying to immerse myself in the tangible cultural things around me. Almost immediately after arriving at my host stay I was generously pulled into a boisterous family birthday celebration, full of dancing and singing Spanish music, and of course lots of Costa Rican food. After classes at CRLA, I jumped into merengue lessons and tasted food from cooking classes. I practiced Spanish both in class and with my homestay. I had an incredible time participating in some of the (maybe more stereotypical) parts of a “tico’s” life. 

            What really stood out to me however, were not the tangible things that many people associate with culture, but rather some of the discussions that I had during my classes at CRLA. In our small, three –person class, we often talked about pervasive modern themes in order to practice our Spanish. Not only did I learn a lot about the language, but I also learned some of what to me seemed like the more interesting and important parts of Costa Rican culture through our discussions. For example, we spent one day talking about different perceptions of various issues such as abortion, gay marriage, veganism, and drug legalization. In a country that proudly wears the label of one of the happiest countries in the world, it was interesting to hear a Costa Rican’s perspective of some of the problems and underlying sentiments in the country that can often be hidden under the surface.           

            Although these themes are common to many countries, and our teacher’s opinion is not representative of the entire population, I felt that my mind was opened up to think beyond the surface value of “tico” culture. Thinking about how the people around you perceive the world is an incredibly important aspect to culture that often gets overlooked.  Even though I had a great time experiencing the food, music, dance, and other aspects of tico life, I hope to be able continue learning about some of the less tangible aspects of the culture in Costa Rica throughout the rest of my time here.