Life has brought Kelsie and I so many gifts. Whether it wasn't easy to accept them sometimes because we were nervous or scared to go look for them, they came to us like shiny beacons in the night...I should probably leave the good story telling to Kelsie. My point is that we have had so many opportunities and it has been hard to NOT pass them up, take the easy way and just stay home for the summer. It is not easy for me to want to leave a place of comfort or go to a place where I know I might get lost or make a fool of my self. Now that I have to go back to the U.S., it's the opposite.
I don't want to get back to where I have to actually understand, think, and talk to everyone that talks to me. Where I no longer need help with just the easy tasks (like where's the bathroom or the mall) but the hard tasks of every day life. Learning more about the world outside of you because you are so familiar with the how you are perceived by everyone else instead of going somewhere new and recreating yourself. We are once again students majoring at K-State, doing some extra things to build our resume so we can work somewhere and have a good life. That's why we studied abroad. The perception of us to the people we are trying to impress had taken over the wheel in our lives.
It's sad but true...
However...
We are back in control...we are the drivers of our own lives again because we can choose to do something different. If we want to.
Study abroad has the fixation of being a resume builder but it's much more than that because it increases the confidence, the love, and the knowledge we have in our heart, mind, and spirit. Let me tell you how.
In Europe, we learned that there are so many occupations being filled by people who can speak 3-5 different languages, students with two or three degrees with masters in another field. They live and breathe the culture of their people and take their time listening and understanding. They don't always do what is convenient and will save rather than get new things. Costa Rica even goes further, people here use one or two light bulbs at night for as little time as possible to save electricity. Those two light bulbs are above the table where they talk until they go to bed. Minimum wage is $1.50/hr and people work with pleasure. People don't have to build their resume to be happy, they just have to make enough to spend time with their families and enjoy every second that they have making the most of it. Dinners are slow and enjoyable, lunches are long, and people make an effort to help or talk to you.
Study abroad is a reminder. That your life can slow down and that you can take path less traveled or listen to those who have traveled it. Life is full of unexpected turns and for those of us that have seen them in a place where you no longer speak the language or in a place where you may not trust the people, it humbles you. You finally understand that your resume may be a piece of paper on someones desk, but you will always be that person so important to new friends or old family. You will have someone to share memories with that only they can understand and you be the person that they want to see or call in the future. Life is about networks, not resumes or experiences. I will always remember the people that made me laugh or created a place where I actually felt welcome. My wife and I are so blessed that we took the hard way, paid for this ourselves and lived experiences that were invaluable.
I very rarely say this but I am so happy that Kelsie works so hard and that I am a very big pushover. I didn't want to do any of these things at first but now I am so glad that I did this with her and I will be happy to do it again. We will miss Costa Rica and all of its glory. This is me...signing off of Speakin' Rican and I cannot wait for the next time...
P.S. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my wife and I being married for a full year. I love that woman more than anything for her smile and her intelligence. :) I can't wait for our ice cream date in America. I love you.
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