Spanish is Not One Language, or: Costa Ricans Talk Funny, or: Why None of My Latino Friends in Texas Will be Able to Understand Me

When people told me we don't learn "real life" Spanish in school, they meant we don't learn Tex-Mex Spanglish or even Mexican Spanish.  And that's true.  But we also don't learn Spanish from Spain, Argentinian Spanish, Costa Rican Spanish, or Lived-In-Chile-Until-I-Was-Ten-But-Learned-All-My-Curse-Words-And-Sexual-References-In-Mexico Spanish. So the question is, what did we learn?  All I know is, when…

Things I Wish I Had Known Before Coming To Costa Rica

I thank my past self for deciding to study abroad.  She didn't know it, but it was one of the hardest decisions she ever made. To me, study abroad was something I always wanted to do, like going to college.  But while going to college was a life-altering decision, I pretty much knew what to…

Heredia, My Cradle

Translation of the cover image: "By the zephyrs (breezes) rocked by the birds sung in a wide valley nestled among hidden flowers Heredia, my cradle..." This was painted on the side of a building (beats me if I remember where) in Heredia.  It's not like Heredia has poems painted on every street corner, but I…