I wish I was just going to be hanging out on the beach eating pineapple all semester, but unfortunately, I’m not. This semester isn’t only going to be challenging because I’m living thousands of miles away from home, eating different foods, and speaking another language, but the workload is also a lot. Our classes here don’t function the same way they do at home, so I’m going to try my best to explain it.
There are two places where I go to class. First is at the LASP office. The staff members of the program and other guest speakers give “charlas” on varying topics. We usually have this class twice a week for four hours each. Each day is a different topic. We’ve talked about Art and Popular Culture in Latin America, Poverty and Inequality in Latin America, Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism, and Economic Systems – just to name a few. In preparation for these classes, we are required to read the corresponding chapter in the book they have given us. Each chapter takes about an hour or more to read. Each week we have a reading critique due. Now this may sound weird, but they are grading much harder than I, or any other student, thought. Also, we just had two days to write a paper about poverty and inequality in Costa Rica, based on 6 interviews we have compiled in San Jose and in Limon. We have a position paper due at the end of the course (which is in about 2 weeks). For this 6-8 page paper, we are to investigate a topic that is discussed in the book we were assigned. Some topics include sweatshops, Communism, and specific countries like Cuba or Panama. However, I was assigned a novel completely written in Spanish. And let me tell you, it is not easy to read. Everything I write has to be written in Spanish. Now, if I were to have this assignment in the United States, I wouldn’t be complaining. It’s not asking that much from a Spanish major – I’ve actually done something a little similar to this before. However, in Costa Rica, I don’t always have the resources I need. I can’t just go on the Internet when I need to look up something. I can’t just call or text a friend when I have a question. I can’t just go to the Internet café right now because I told Keith that I would meet up with him at noon to walk to ICADS. So, being in a foreign country and trying to finish your homework is not as easy as one might have thought.
We are also taking classes at ICADS (Institute for Central American Development Studies – or something like that). We have class there from 1:30 to 4:30 every day. From my house it takes an hour and a half to walk there. Now, I’m not complaining about the walk there, its absolutely beautiful – and I’m getting some exercise in! But when you get home after dark, and then you have to eat dinner and spend time with your family, it doesn’t leave much extra time to do homework. The program tells us that sometimes you are going to have to sacrifice doing work for hanging out with your family and practicing your Spanish, but I can’t afford to do that. I have to maintain my academic scholarship. And witnessing the intensity of the grading scale here, it’s going to be a difficult task to complete.
I’m sorry for this rant of complaints, but I just had to get it out. I hope you don’t think I’m not enjoying it here because I definitely am! I have made some awesome friends and my family is wonderful. I just ask that you would keep me in our prayers, not only for health and safety, but for the academic load, as well. Pray that I would consistently lean upon the Lord; there is no way I could do any of this without Him.
