{"id":18420,"date":"2023-02-24T12:46:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T18:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/?p=18420"},"modified":"2026-02-05T11:17:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T17:17:56","slug":"self-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/2023\/02\/24\/self-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Self growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

People are quick to highlight the positives of studying abroad, but in reality, it\u2019s a learning curve. I am incredibly grateful to have this experience, and I love Costa Rica, but homesickness is real, expectations aren\u2019t always met and there are cultural differences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"My
My host mom and roommate at a HUGE farmers market!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the second week of school, my computer broke; I didn\u2019t drop it or anything, it just broke. I got my computer back yesterday, Feb. 21, and it had been broken since Jan. 23. Having to use the school computers and my phone for assignments was challenging, but it taught me adaptability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
 Beautiful tropics of the Caribbean<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This past weekend I went to Puerto Viejo, a beach town on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. It was beautifully tropical, the food was amazing and the beach was so much fun. Two friends from my program and I took the five-hour bus ride from San Jose to Puerto Viejo, and even though there wasn\u2019t air conditioning on the way back, I would do it again in a heartbeat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The beaches of Puerto Viejo <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the second week of school, I caught the stomach virus that was rapidly spreading around my university, Veritas. I was one of the first people in my program to get it, and I was scared not knowing what was going on with my body. Luckily, my host mom is incredibly caring and supportive. She gave me home remedies, consistently checked on me and had no judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Vegetarian casado, a traditional dish in Costa Rica <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most of the time when I travel during the weekends to tourist areas, I\u2019m inclined to get pasta, bagels, iced coffee and everything else that I miss from the United States. I do like the traditional Costa Rican food \u2014 rice, beans, plantains, etc. \u2014 but sometimes I miss the food I\u2019m used to from home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Typical North American breakfast foods<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, I\u2019m cherishing my time abroad; I\u2019m so grateful to experience the culture, visit the jungle, go to the beach, hike, etc., but it can be hard being away from family and the culture you\u2019re used to for weeks on end. I know as soon as I get home I\u2019m going to miss the Pura Vida lifestyle, learning and growing from the ups and downs of my time abroad, and the life I\u2019ve created here. I\u2019m trying my best to live in the present moment and accept everything as it comes, and that\u2019s the best form of self-growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Learn more about this blogger\u2019s study abroad program:<\/strong> CIS Abroad: Semester in Costa Rica<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People are quick to highlight the positives of studying abroad, but in reality, it\u2019s a learning curve. I am incredibly grateful to have this experience, and I love Costa Rica, but homesickness is real, expectations aren\u2019t always met and there are cultural differences. After the second week of school, my computer broke; I didn\u2019t drop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[184],"class_list":["post-18420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-costa-rica"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18420"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21944,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18420\/revisions\/21944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}