Culture Shock in Costa Rica

I've always been a bit of a home bird, who loves her home comforts and, most importantly, being near her family.

So when I arrived in Costa Rica, I knew I was going to have a challenging three months ahead of me—but that gave me even more reason to be there.

Getting culture shocked in Costa Rica

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Costa Rica. Of course, I'd done reams of research before I decided to live there—but I'd never even been to this side of the world before. And it doesn't matter the number of photos and articles you see and read beforehand; the real experience hits the moment you arrive. 

After an extremely long journey, I finally arrived in the small town of Liberia in the north of Costa Rica, where I was greeted by my host family.

Within the first hour, I was swarmed with conversation in an unfamiliar Spanish; entered a house that looked vastly different from anything I had ever seen before; and been handed a plate of rice and beans. I was overwhelmed and started to wonder if I'd made a huge mistake. Only an hour into my new adventure and I was already crying. I excused myself from the table, locked myself in my bedroom and rang my parents to tell them I missed them.

I started to wonder if I'd made a huge mistake. Only an hour into my new adventure and I was already crying. 

I told myself it would get better each day and that I was just experiencing culture shock, which is completely normal.

But it didn't get better—at least not for a while. Each day, new challenges arose. I didn’t have enough hours at the school I was volunteering at to keep me occupied, and I had very few friends and very little privacy from my host family. It all added up to make me feel extremely alone. I just wished that I could go home.

However, that wasn’t going to happen. With everything I do I never give up; I never have done and I never will do. That is what I told myself every night before I went to sleep for the next three months.

A change of mindset

After a couple of weeks of weighing up whether to go home, I turned a new page and decided to develop a unique perspective on things. I put myself out there and decided to focus on the positives of each day.

I was becoming more familiar with life in Costa Rica. I'd developed a routine at the school, and I was lucky enough to be teaching very precious children, who kept the smile on my face every day. I made a new friend (also from the UK), who I decided to go travelling with on the weekends, giving me the opportunity to see the most amazing beaches. I was even becoming used to the innumerable plates of rice and beans I was eating. It was just another beautiful aspect of living by the Costa Rican "pura vida" ("simple life") motto.

Yes, it was a challenge and yes, it was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. But without challenges like this in life we would never overcome our fears.

By battling through the immense amount of homesickness and culture shock I felt in the first few weeks, it only meant I became a better version of myself. I was starting to understand just how beautiful it is to experience unfamiliar cultures. Most importantly, I learned that everything really does get better with time. After three months of living a lifestyle that made me feel so uncomfortable at first, I realized how capable I was of handling things solo. 

Three months later, I boarded the plane back home. I was crying again, but this time it was because I was sad to be saying goodbye to a life I'd become accustomed to—and because I was so proud of myself. I did it.