Studying abroad involves a very interesting schedule that I’ve never experienced before. We obviously have class and still need to set some time aside for studying, but the rest of our time “at home” is very different than a typical afternoon spent chillin at your own house.
My schedule consists of a LOT of spontaneity and is more go with the flow than ever before, but there are some things that I can count on to be part of my routine.
Typical Morning
On school days I wake up around 6, but on other days, I wake up anywhere between 7 or 8. Like back home, I wake up early to do my devo (this is time spent reading my Bible, praying, and just connecting with God). Then I do all of the typical getting ready stuff and wait until my host mom Irene finishes breakfast, which on school days is around 7:30, other days, it varies.
7:50 is typically when I leave the house to take my 7 minute walk to the university for my 8am classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then after classes is done at 11 (yes, classes are 3 hours long), I walk back home and chill or do homework until I eat lunch, also prepared by Irene.
12:50 is when I start walking back to the university for my Spanish class on Mondays and Wednesday. I’ve gotta say, this is for sure my hardest class to get through. The professor teaches/has us doing activities the whole 3 hours, save our 20 minutes “recreo” in between.
By 4 when our class is over, I’m bookin it out of class cause I’m very tired of being at school at this point.
If it’s a Monday, I go home to change and leave by 4:50 to make it back to school in time for our two hour dance class. We have been learning all of the different Latin American dances, and it’s been really fun, and tiring.
If it’s a wednesday, I change into workout clothes, and if I feel like it, I play soccer in the complex that our program rents out for us, but more likely than not, I don’t feel like playing, so I go and workout out at the park right next to the complex instead.
On Tuesday, I have no classes and end up making this a day where I really don’t do much outside of the house. I catch up on homework, regain energy, do something creative, read, and watch a sermon or two. I really like Tuesdays.
Thursdays I only have one class in the morning and after lunch, I usually meet up at the park with a few of my friends and we go get pastries or go to cute cafes and just hang out and talk.
If I don’t have dance class or play soccer, then I usually head to the park by my house around 5 to do some type of workout, cause I really need to offset all of the rice, beans, and fried foods I’m getting fed out here.
Fridays usually end up being days where I do random stuff around San Ramon, chill at the house, or travel to go to some other city/canton in Costa Rica. It’s almost expected that we go explore the country every weekend, which is pretty cool, but also a bit tiring and makes money go by really fast. We typically stay in a hostel for one or two nights and then travel back to San Ramon on sundays.
As always, I use up a lot of my free time to do homework, but there definitely is not as much work to do as back home, which I’m grateful for.
There really is no set schedule or time crunch for much out here, the most strict thing about my schedule are starting times and deadlines for school, and even then, the teachers show up late and let us out early sometimes. It’s kind of cool not having a “set thing” to do and being able to go with the flow. And if you don’t like going with the flow, you’ll learn to like it out here cause you have no choice.
More updates to come,
Kae
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