Saying Goodbye

What I have missed the most about the U.S.:
- My pets, it was hard being away from them for so long

- My bed: it's not like the bed I had at my host families house was uncomfortable, but nothing beats my double bed with down comforter and pillows

- The type of food: I have never been someone who loves or craves fast food, but for some reason while I was abroad, all I wanted was Cold Stone Ice Cream, Dominoes Pizza, and mac n cheese. Also, rice is good, but I am so sick of eating it all the time.

- The convenience of an American lifestyle. What I mean by this is that sometimes I missed being able to hop in my car and drive to one store where I can find everything I need.

- Not having to worry about ants or mosquitoes in my home

- I missed living independently. My host family was great; they also had food for me when I came down to eat, they cleaned for me, and they took care of me. But sometimes I just wished I could cook a little for myself or have large groups of people over without feeling like I was offending my host family.

Overall, I mostly missed the little things. Stuff like my friends, family, car, apartment, school I found myself not missing as much.

Hanging out one last time at a Christmas Parade in the park

What I will miss about Costa Rica:
- One of the biggest things I will miss about Costa Rica is my friends there. We all make promises before we leave that we will see each other and have reunions, but when you are used to seeing people everyday in classes and then practically living with them on the weekends, it's hard to imagine life without them. Florida, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Nevada, like it or not, are just very
far away.

- Going somewhere every weekend. I also had a trip planned or something to do with my friends and when I return home, I won't have the time or money to continue doing that between having a job and going to school. I'm sure I will get very bored.

- My classes from Costa Rica. I know there I at least one professor I am going to miss since he has been the greatest resource to me while abroad and has led some very interesting and thought provoking discussions in the two classes I had with him. I'm also going to miss learning knew things about the tropics and countries in the tropics with every class I took.

- The weather. I am going back to 30 degree and rainy weather in Washington and I am going to seriously miss the 80 degree weather in Costa Rica

- Seeing cool animals everywhere. By the end of my time studying abroad, seeing monkeys in the wild has become so common to me, that it wasn't even fazing me anymore when I did see them. Still, I am going to miss looking out my window and seeing parrots or walking to school and seeing lizards and stray dogs. 

Honestly, I think I am going to miss more of Costa Rica as time goes on.

Group photo at the farewell activity

Reverse culture shock: Real or no?
I think I experienced a little bit of culture shock when I arrived in Costa Rica, so I am sure I will have a little of a reverse effect when I return back to the United States. I have a feeling though that the reverse culture shock will be more like unlearning learned behaviors while abroad (like throwing away toilet paper!).

Plan for immersing back into real life:
I don't really have a specific plan for immersing back into real life. I think I am just going to throw myself back into school, clubs, and finding a job and hopefully everything will fall into place around me.

Maintaining relationships with people from abroad:
I exchanged social media with many people abroad and I think that is the greatest tool our generation has for staying in touch.

Staying internationally engaged:
I don't have any plans to stop travelling. There is still so much of the world I want to see and experience and any chance I get, I am going abroad again.

On the plane to Dallas selfie with Katie and Chris

Saying Goodbye, final thoughts on the program:
Saying goodbye was hard. Like really hard. One of the last nights in San Ramon, we all decided to go to a bar; this bar was the one we all went to on one of our first nights here for Zach's birthday. For one last time, we all hung out together in the place where many of us all met for the first time. At first it was really fun, but as people started to leave and the goodbyes started happening, it got really sad. We all talk about seeing each other again and returning to Costa Rica, but part of me knows that that is most likely not going to happen. At least not for everyone and not at the same time. The goodbyes were hard because I had a feeling that this was the last time I would see everyone again or at least certain people. And even if a reunion were to happen, it wouldn't be the same because people grow and change. It will never be like how it was in that last moment together because none of us will be the same again after this experience. That's OK though, because we will always have memories of our time together, and that is enough.

"You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place. Like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and place, because you'll never be this way again."

One last group photo