After Panama we returned to the station in Monteverde for a few days where we were able to research and come up with our research projects, and choose the area we wanted to live for our homestays, before we left to go live with strangers and work on our projects! Coming up with a project was worse than pulling teeth for me. I had the toughest time. I finally picked one but after several days of implementation and no results I had to switch. The first one was trying to find rodents in windbreaks (fence lines basically) and I was trying to trap them with oats and peanut butter. It did not go well. Even with Moncho's help. So I switched to identifying species in the windbreaks. WAY more boring, and tedious and I pretty much hated it. ha. I listened to music and got to hike up to beautiful places... Oh wait. there was another failed experiment I forgot about, I think I was trying to trap bees. Except it was always raining and I wasn't catching a darn thing, so then I had to go with plants.
Homestay was tough at first I was placed with a family that wasn't terrible, but just wasn't a good fit for me. I'm a friendly person, and was already nervous so when I went to get dropped off we knocked and at first thought no one was home it took them so long to come to the door. I was shown to my room and they hardly talked to me. The kids adored me but were always in my stuff, in my room, etc. They were sweet, but attention starved. The food was decent but I was always fed first and pretty much ate by myself they ate more in front of the tv. I didn't hate it but I wasn't happy... It was a super tough decision to ask to switch families, and of course the last night I was there they all sat down to dinner with me at the table and told me stories of the farm and their wedding and all the land they owned and how they roasted their own coffee... I think they got a call that I was leaving the next day. I felt super guilty but I'm glad I changed.
When I went to live with my new family I got a hug when I walked in the door and my Mami was talking to me and asking me questions and it was amazing. I Loved my host family. My Papi carved his own bowls out of wood and we sold them in a store attached to the house. Mami also made jewelry and there's a beautiful orchid garden in the back where we frequently got sloths, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. We had mint plants and a couple other plants for tea, Sugar cane, yucca, papaya, bananas. It was so much fun living there. They ate pretty healthy too, not a lot of meat, salad frequently at meals. I miss her cooking. I had a sister Moni too who was just a year younger than me. I had my own room and bathroom and my room even had a door to outside so I wouldn't have to wake them if I came home late at night from the bar (which i didn't do that often) Honest! We had little dogs, and Lizzy and I made our own halloween costumes we were thing 1 and thing 2, and my mom sewed them a little for us. Ugh I miss them! I still see them on facebook and we write a little bit now and then. She likes my pictures and I see pictures of them with the grandbaby. They have an older daughter that was married to an American and living in Georgia. they would skype everyday sometimes more. She was pregnant. I never got to meet her but saw her via skype frequently and was excited for them to see pictures of the baby when I returned back to the states.
I completed my project while in homestay and wrote up my report on it. My grades weren't terrible but they weren't A's in this program. It was super challenging for me. I actually reached a point when we were living in the homestays and I was trying to write a report for a project we had done in parts as a large group back at Eladio's in the Penas Blancas Valley and I was miserable. That was kind of a turning point where I realized I didn't think that biology was going to be the major for me when I returned to the states so I e-mailed my adviser right then. I said, I need a new major, I'm considering event planning, what kind of suggestions do you have for me. She came back with journalism, communications, and sociology. I thought the first two were tooooo english-y so I scheduled a full load of intro sociology classes and the rest of my requirements and took a leap. ( I kept it and loved the major so I totally got lucky)
Anyways we finished up homestays, went back to live at the station, finished writing our research projects and had to present our projects for the group. I think I did alright it wasn't spectacularly inspiring but we were done! We celebrated and it was so hard to have to start saying goodbye to people. Some went right home, others were meeting their parents, some were going on to do some traveling ( I was going to travel).
It was realllllllly hard to say goodbye. This was such an amazing experience and we were a unique program. Normally they have close to 30 students. We only had 21 and we all got along. You weren't best friends with everyone but you could work together. and the reduced amount of people meant we got a few extra trips that other larger groups wouldn't be able to afford. plus we were about evenly split male/female. Most of the past years have 3/4 female to 1/4 male. There were just so many factors that made this an amazing incredible experience that I'm so thankful I was able to participate in. I know i didn't end up being a biology major but the way this program opened my eyes and the outlook it gave me are just not quantifiable. When I flew out of the country I was hardly excited to be going back to the states. I felt closer to crying, and like I left my heart on the tarmac. Just and unbelievable experience. That I wish I could go back to, but the thing is I know it'd never be the same. Sigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment