Hi! My name is Naomi Albert. I am a junior in high school and am hoping to study abroad in Costa Rica for a semester during the spring of next year (Feb-July 2014). Through this program with AFS, I would stay with a host family and attend a local high school for approximately 5 months. I want to be an exchange student in order to understand another culture, become fluent in Spanish, and experience a different educational system. Studying abroad is also a great opportunity to travel, see the world, and meet students not only from Costa Rica but from other countries as well.
In Costa Rica, my host family will share their culture and country with me. Living abroad will help me gain perspective, not only on the rest of the world, but on the United States as well. By living and going to school in a completely Spanish speaking country for an entire semester, I will learn more Spanish than I ever could in a class room. I will also learn more about the culture than I ever could by just being a tourist. Being an exchange student will also help me foster greater independence before leaving home which will make the adjustment to college easier.
I have been hoping to be an exchange student for the past three years and now it is finally happening! I have always been interested in countries with Spanish origins since I think Spanish and Latin American cultures are very interesting, and that Spanish is a beautiful language. I have taken three years of Spanish so far and am planning on taking another semester of Spanish before I leave. Being fluent in Spanish is a great life skill which will be helpful for my entire life.
Costa Rica is one of the safest countries in Central America. The economy is largely supported by eco tourism. A large percent of the country is preserved in national parks. Despite it's small size, Costa Rica contains around 6% of the worlds biodiversity. While I am there, I am hoping to be able to visit some of it's many national parks. Costa Rica's commitment to environmental conservation is one of the reasons I would like to live there, since I love animals and am interested in pursuing a career related to the environment. Costa Rica is home to people of many different origins which makes for an interesting culture, I am very excited to learn more about it!
I think it is important for Americans learn about other cultures because when you aren't exposed to different cultures and ways of doing things it is easy to become arrogant and less open to new ideas. I will try to be a good ambassador, and a good representative of United States, and share our culture. While I am in Costa Rica I will be updating this blog, and trying to share my experiences with everyone back home.
To make this trip possible, I have been working a lot. This summer I have about 6 small jobs to raise money for my tuition. I am looking for as much work as I can get this summer, so if you have any work you need done or know of any job opportunities, please let me know. So far I have been doing a lot of gardening and cleaning, as well as farm work, and babysitting. I prefer to earn money by helping people, that way everybody benefits.
In addition, I am planning on doing some fundraisers later this summer and fall (including a Costa Rican Dinner, and Pumpkin Sale.) Please stay tuned to this blog for those details. Any money I can raise would be helpful for my trip. I am also part of the AFS sponsor an AFSer program. This is an online fundraising tool provided by AFS to allow potential sponsors to make easy, secure, and non tax-deductible contributions to my AFS program fee. To sponsor my AFS program, please click the Donate Now button to make a non tax-deductible contribution directly to my AFS program account.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your support! I will keep this blog updated about the fundraisers I will be doing as well as news about my trip. Please feel free to forward this blog to anyone you think would be interested, I really appreciate it! I will post another blog update soon with more information about Costa Rica!
Thanks again!
Naomi Albert
