Abroad America

Xavier A Talamantes
18 February 2020
FD1
Word Count=774

“Squalor. I’m extremely interested in squalor” (Salinger, J. D., For Esmé – with Love and Squalor, p. 31). [THESIS]Socioeconomic differences have always existed in modern civilization and poverty with it. But the world is changing and the people have a louder voice than ever before–Equality for education and opportunity is possible.[THESIS]

It was an overnight flight, but my excitement kept me alert–some worry too. This was my first time in a new country, my first time away from my family for so long. This was my first time studying abroad, in San José, Costa Rica. While here I’ll be staying with an American family in the neighborhood, San Francisco de Dos Rios. They are all teachers at a private elementary school down the road. Walking to see our home for the first time, I was a bit shocked to see all the homes were encompassed by tall walls and fences. In Costa Rica, or at least in our home and area (roughly middle class I believe), we still lacked some amenities I had come to take for granted in los Estados Unidos (the United States), like air conditioning and hot water. Naturally, though, the homes were designed to help airflow so the heat wasn’t too terrible on the sunniest days. The windows fully opened to allow air in, and the house had a small open-air courtyard. My room was detached on one end of the courtyard, with its private bath (lacking hot water)–This was meant to be the maids quarters. Immediately, I was able to experience first hand all the difference in infrastructure, construction, and general wealth of people here vs back home. Despite so, I genuinely enjoyed my time and adjusted well. It became more apparent, things I could live without, and in many ways, I grew to prefer the simpler ways of “Tico” (Costa Rican) life.

To renew my visa, I had to leave the country for a couple of days, so my host family and I decided to visit Nicaragua to the north. It was the nearest country from us, and just a cheap bus ride over the border. From the border checkpoint, we hitchhiked into a nearby beach town, San Juan Del Sur, to check into a local hostel for only $10 a night. This was a college-age, backpacker, and surfer town. Filled hostels, Spanish schools, and bars. Overlooking the harbor, a statue of Jesus loomed over the mountainside. It was beautiful here, the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen, lined by lush jungles, macaws flew from canopy to canopy, and sloths lumbered in them as well.

My host brother was always the adventurous one and wanted to trek out of the town into the more rural areas. After riding in a taxi over the rocky dirt road, we found another striking beach, free of liter and hardly a person in sight. The few that were nearby though gave us a small layout of the land. Sea turtles laid their eggs here, and the one long, lone road that stretched along the coast was dotted with small fishing villages.

At one of the villages, each house very small and didn’t appear to be very well constructed. I don’t believe they even had any electricity. We were introduced to this boy. My Spanish wasn’t too great, so I didn’t catch his name. They explained to us he was the first in his villages, however, to graduate the 8th grade. The whole village had participated in the celebration, which had even included a parade of sorts. It was incredibly heartwarming to see such a close community, as well as heartwrenching to see what little these children had.

When studying abroad, it offers you a unique opportunity to experience something outside your culture, socioeconomic status, and immerses you into a very real world in a different part of the planet. Where one is born will determine the opportunities readily available for them, and in the grand game of chance, I was fortunate to be born in the US where we enjoy a higher quality of life in many aspects than most. But I learn two things that stay with me always; I don’t need material possessions for happiness. Some of my happiest moments were my time in Latin America, and there the emphasis is less on what you have and more about what you do; I also learn that it is important I never take for granted all I have access too. It is also my responsibility to pass those on to as many people as possible, to be a presence for the better, and to tell the stories of those that might go unheard.