Pre-Departure post

It’s Wednesday, May 12, 2010 and I am less than 2 days away from my arrival in Costa Rica! I started planning for this trip in September 2009 and find myself hours away and still not packed. But that’s OK, that means my clothes won’t be as wrinkled when I get there, right? This is going to be such a unique experience because it truly will be a cultural immersion! I’m not going to be on the outside looking in or a tourist. I’ve gotten the names of the family I will be staying with my first week and wish I could contact them in advance to say how excited I am to be coming! Are they as excited? I look forward to being a “part” of their family for a little while. I look forward to learning another language and experiencing another culture. . My sole purpose for embarking on this adventure is to gain strategies that I will be able to use with my future ESL students. I want to be able to say that I know how they feel. I anticipate feelings of frustration, anxiety, and hopelessness but will look for ways to overcome those obstacles and I want to tell them that “this” is what I did. I want my students to be able to say that I was a good teacher and I want to make a difference in the life of a child. I know that this experience will help me with that endeavor!