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Expect the Unexpected!

No matter how much homework and research I did before leaving for my summer program, nothing could have prepared me for the unexpected situations I was bound to encounter while abroad. In Costa Rica, I was placed on an agroecological farm for my internship – this much I knew beforehand. However, most GESI students live with a host family throughout their stay in-country, and this was not exactly the case for my group. The four of us lived together on the farm where we worked, and our host family was the young couple who managed the business. Because they were so close to us in age (31 and 32 years old), the couple seemed more like companions or friends rather than our host parents. It was difficult to navigate this situation at first, but eventually we formed a close bond with the two, having late-night conversations about life, laughing over jokes, and so much more. Another unexpected factor of farm life had to do with their water conservation processes; when my group first arrived on the farm, we were told that we could each only take 5-minute showers between the hours of 5-6pm, and if it rained heavily during the day, we wouldn’t be able to shower. Though this wasn’t ideal after long days of sweating and doing dirty work, we quickly adapted to the shower system and became comfortable with not feeling “clean” all the time. Along the same line, the farm also used dry toilets, which meant that we had to wash our urine and cover our manure with soil every time we went to the bathroom. Through this experience, we learned about how much water is wasted in our own lives back home. The most important takeaway I had from these situations is that with every surprise and unpredictable circumstance came an opportunity to grow and make the most out of each moment, and I couldn’t be more grateful for my time with our host couple and their work.

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