Costa Rica: Nigel Schmidtlein ( A New Experience)

One experience that stood out during my study abroad program in San Jose, Costa Rica was when my host family took me to visit their family farm. Their farm was in the city of Santa Rosa, which is about an hour away from the area of San Jose where my host family lives. There, I got to meet my host mom’s siblings, and they were extremely warm and caring people. They gave me a tour around their family farm, teaching me about their daily life, with an amazing view of Cartago and San Jose in the background. After, we enjoyed a typical Costa Rican afternoon coffee break with some delicious pastries as we talked about our families. One of our common interests was 80’s music, so we listened to our favorites and enjoyed the sunset and cool mountain weather on their patio. We finished our evening with a traditional Costa Rican dinner of rice, beans, chicken, and salad. It was a great experience meeting the extended family of my host parents, and seeing their lifestyle. They all reminded me a lot of my own family, and I felt right at home with them. It was also a rewarding experience because my Spanish had progressed enough throughout my time on the program that I now felt confident in my speaking and understanding to make meaningful connections with my host family. Finally, this experience stood out to me because it provided me with a perspective on rural life in Costa Rica. I learned about the day to day life of my extended host family, and their tightly knit community. These experiences relate a lot to my own family in the USA who come from rural farming backgrounds. Overall, I am very thankful that I was able to visit my host family in Santa Rosa, and cherish the connections I was able to make with them during my time there!

 

Nigel Schmidtlein

Hometown: Excelsior, Minnesota

Major: Computer Sciences

Program: UW Spanish Langauge in Costa Rica

One personal goal of my program is to gain a better understanding of Costa Rican culture. I hope that through my host family and experiences in San Jose, I will be able to see the similarities and differences between Costa Rican and U.S. cultures. I can then apply this to my future learning and living experiences to become a more well-rounded and globally conscious person.

I chose this program because I was interested in Spanish language immersion when learning. Also, the host school Maximo Nivel has small class sizes which suit my learning style well.