A Word to Prospective Students of Study Abroad Immersion Programs

I might not be very popular with the OIEC staff after this post, but I think it needs to be said for the benefit of the program as a whole.

When I signed up for this program, the last Spanish class I had was as a sophomore in high school, 1992.  Yeah, I'm that old.  At any rate, I hadn't used my Spanish extensively at all since then.  It was somewhere in the back of my head, but I was nowhere near able to carry a conversation.  Knowing this, I got a hold of some Spanish audiobooks and brushed up on my skills.  It helped a little bit, but it still wasn't a lot.

Here's the point.  The program says that you don't need any Spanish to sign up for the immersion program.  And that's correct, you don't- if you're okay with making your host family and the instructors at the ICLC very uncomfortable and difficult to do their role\job.  This was what happened to me.  My poor host mother, I love her to death, had to speak quite a bit of English to me just so we could communicate about meals, what time I needed to be somewhere or come home, and all of the other things that normally come very naturally in your own tongue.  At school, I would sit and listen to my instructor speak, and would maybe get a few words that I understood, and really just look around to see what the other students were doing.  Some instructors would actually speak some English to me because, if they didn't, there's no way I would have gotten anything out of the lessons.

And that's all my fault.  I'm not blaming anyone for the difficulties I've had.  It's been a wonderful program and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I just wish I had prepared myself better for the trip so I wouldn't have put my host mother and the instructors at the ICLC in the uncomfortable position of teaching someone well below the level of Spanish they are probably more used to seeing.

Why bring this up now, when I only have 3 days left?  I hope that this blog is used by the OIEC staff to show a first hand account of what the immersion program and field biology program is like.  I think it would be a wonderful resource for incoming students to prepare themselves for what will easily be a trip of a lifetime.  With that in mind, if I could make two recommendations, one to the incoming students, and one to the staff.

To the students, I would suggest that you take even a conversational Spanish course before coming down.  You register for this trip usually in mid winter term, so plan to take a Spanish class in Spring term before the trip.  It will make your life, and your host, and the instructor's, so much better.

To the OIEC staff, I would suggest making sure that incoming students are prepared for what total immersion will be like, and that they plan to have some formal Spanish education before the trip.  I know that you have to get students enrolled to fill the quota so the trip can even go, but I don't think emphasizing the importance of Spanish language training before the trip would have turned off anyone in my group.  We would have made the necessary course changes to be prepared to have a great time here.

T-Minus 36 Hours, But Who's Counting

 All packed and ready to go.  Now all that's left is...

...the waiting.  Oh well, at least I can show off my cool hat and awesome bag.

Okay, NOW I'm ready

No adventure is complete without an authentic adventure hat!  Where would Sherlock be with out his deerstalker cap?  Indiana Jones without his Stetson fedora?  European Imperialists without their pith helmets?

I'm too sexy for my hat...

Check out this wicked sick bag!

So this is the bag I'll be living out of for a month.  Made by my awesome wife, of course.

+1 Internets to the first person that can tell me where she got the idea for the patch.

Welcome!

Hello friends and family!  If you're here, that means you either received my email or someone conned you into following a link here.  Surprise!

For those of you that don't know the details, I am a part of Rogue Community College's Study Abroad program here in Grants Pass, Oregon.  Myself and 14 other students are headed to Costa Rica for a month.  Two weeks of Spanish language immersion, and two weeks of field biology and ecology.  For the first two weeks, we stay with a local Costa Rican family.  For the last two weeks, we stay at three different research stations. The first is in Monteverde, a non-profit reserve in the cloud forest mountains in the northern part of the country.  The next is Cabo Blanco, a private nature reserve on the western Nicoya Peninsula only open to students.  Our last stop is the La Selva Biological Station, a research station in the rain forest near the eastern Caribbean Coast.

Time and Internet access allowing, I am planning on updating this blog with witty stories, beautiful pictures, and enlightening commentary on my travels in Costa Rica.  So be sure to follow me to keep updated on all the awesome details that will be coming!  I leave on June 25th!

Pura vida!