Conversations with Caitlin: June 2015

Mixed Emotions

I started this post a week ago. I want to tell everyone how I feel and how everything is going. However, the truth is that I do not know how I feel! Every minute, I change my mind and I feel a different emotion. And, I cannot decipher the emotions that I am feeling! I can’t wait to drive my car and see my family. But, I am sad to leave my home here. I will miss my Barva-Heredia bus dearly.

Yesterday, I was feeling really down about leaving Heredia and about not being with my family in Chicago for a wedding (the gloomy afternoons do not help much!). I made myself feel better by laughing and eating dinner with my family. I told a funny story and my host mom and sister were laughing hysterically (this proved to me how much my Spanish has improved since it is hard to show personalities in another language and because humor usually gets lost in translation). We ate a delicious typical soup and relaxed together. I was sad, happy, unsure, and a little confused.

Tonight, I do know that I feel happy….on top of the world, on Cloud 9 kind of happy! I had an amazing day at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and at Volcan Poas. I enjoyed time laughing and taking selfies with new and old friends. Tomorrow I am going to another city with my host parents to visit some family. Tonight, I am thrilled (and exhausted). In an hour I will probably be sad to leave as I continue to pack. In two hours I will probably be sad because I will be looking at photos from the wedding in Chicago. And in three hours I will be happy again, falling asleep in my perfect bed in my perfect room with the fan on “high.”

I am not sure if I will post again before I leave (I leave one week from today). I will be sure to post a final reflection at some point and maybe some last-minute photos once I finish exams this week. On a final note, I think I am going to pass all of my classes here!!! Woohoo.