Studying Spanish and Surviving in Central America

Studying Spanish and Surviving in Central America
By Stacey Butterfield

There is a lizard in my shower. At home, that would be reason to call a friend or maybe even the Game Commission. But here in Costa Rica, lizards aren´t news.
My standard of what is unusual and noteworthy has changed a lot during a four week Spanish Immersion course here.
I could look up the Spanish words for lizard and shower to tell the story to my host family over breakfast. Instead, I stick with the easier topic of what type of rice an beans we´re eating this morning.
There is a rice mixed with beans, or rice, beans and eggs or beans on a tortilla – and that´s just breakfast.
But even talking about food is a big accomplishment. I arrived speaking just enough Spanish to order a beer. This is great if you want a beer, but my host family had all these more difficult questions about my name, age, hometown, job, favorite foods, - obviously, the correct answer to that one is rice and beans.
It´s like being an infant all over again, not understanding what anyone is saying or doing. Except babies don´t know enough to be embarrassed by their cluelessness. Even my very sympathetic Spanish professors at La Escuela D’Amore (named for owner David D’Amore) have to laugh once in a while, such as when we confused bano and banana – my classmate really meant to say his favorite food was banana, not bathroom.
In the midst of all this mystery, it´s odd the things that stay the same. “Walker, Texas Ranger”, is one. After a dinner of rice and beans in our animal infested shack, the family gathers around the big-screen TV to watch Walker beat up the bad guys. It could be the same episode my brother´s watching back home, dubbed into Spanish.
Why would anyone pay $400 a week to live with insects, eat beans and rice, have people bable at her in an incomprehensible language, and watch rerun on television?
One answer is the location. Manuel Antonio is near the equator on the Pacific coast of Central America. The school sits on top of a rainforest mountain overlooking white sand beaches and blue sea. In a quiet moment, you can hear the monkeys squawking.
Every classroom has an ocean view, and the backyard is a butterfly preserve – 5 percent of the world´s butterfly population lives in the tiny country of Costa Rica. Some days, Spanish class is held on the beach, with breaks for swimming instead of coffee.
Of course, the vacationers here –and there are many – get to swim all day, not just on their breaks.
The reason to do an immersion program is that moment when everything clicks.
Before arriving here, I talked a lot about understanding a different culture and meeting new people.
But it was a week and a half into the program before I finally knew what I had been seeking.
I lay in my bed that night – after removing as many bugs and lizards as possible – and realized that the most interesting, fulfilling conversation of my day had been with Costa Ricans, not other visitors.
None of it was grammatically correct, but I had talked about feminism, politics and relationships, all in Spanish. Not bad for a gringa from Pennsylvania. (Academia de Español D’Amore in Manuel Antonio offers four hours per day in Spanish immersion classes beginning at $420 for two weeks. The price includes accommodation and two meals a day with a host family.
New classes begin every Monday and can last from two weeks to a year.
More information is available by contacting the school at www.academiadamore.com