Katarina, a previous Short-Term Program Coordinator here at United Planet, recently made a trip to Costa Rica to visit some of United Planet’s project sites and host families. She wrote an account of her trip, which we’ve shared below. Living with a host family while traveling abroad is one of the best ways to totally immerse yourself in a foreign culture and form lasting relationships – Katarina explains why!
When I realized I was going on a site visit trip to Costa Rica, I was beside myself with excitement. Having spent the past six months at United Planet as an International Project Coordinator for Peru, Ecuador and Nepal, I was incredibly curious about how the things are organized in one of our other partnering countries. The main purpose of the site visit was to visit some of our projects and host families and make sure that everything works exactly as we want it to work.
In Costa Rica we partner with a local organization called ACI, a member of the worldwide ICYE federation, which encourages cross-cultural exchanges and volunteering trips. As our country coordinator, Jessica, was out accompanying a group of Canadian volunteers, ACI’s general director, Mauricio, took me under his wing and planned my visit to the last minute. The first task was to visit our host families and it was absolutely incredible.
Located just a ten-minute drive away from ACI’s office there is a lively and charming suburb of Guadelupe. After spending two days in the busy and crowded center of San Jose, it felt like taking a very welcomed break. We pulled over in front of a two-story building, painted all red with a fenced entry. “Doña Iliana?” called Mauricio, peering through the bars. “My wife is upstairs, she is preparing some tamales for you,” answered a smiling man descending down the stairs to open the gate for us. “Welcome to our home.”
He showed us into their house and I was immediately impressed. Everything around me was perfectly clean, neat and furnished with great taste. Even thought the house was not large or luxurious, it felt like home in a second. Doña Iliana appeared from the kitchen door, carrying large plate of tamales and a pot of freshly brewed coffee. Although I already had one cup of coffee in the morning at the ACI office, I followed the local custom and accepted another one. If Mauricio can handle seven cups a day, why shouldn’t I?
While eating the delicious and nutritious tamales, we talked about the family’s experience hosting international volunteers. Rolando and Iliana explained to us that they have been doing it for the past nine years and they proudly showed us a glass vitrine cabinet full of gifts from the volunteers that they housed. I noticed several keepsakes from Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France and of course, the United States. “We always love having volunteers around and we do everything for them to feel like at home. It must be terrifying to leave their own country, I could not do it myself. We admire them so much!” explained Rolando. Iliana nods and adds, “I always put myself into the shoes of their mothers.”
The girl that they are currently housing got on the wrong bus during one of her first days and ended up in not the safest district of San Jose. “She called me, explaining in her broken Spanish that she does not know where she is. She sounded terrified. I tried to calm her down and asked her to hand her phone over to a tico lady that is nearby. After I figured out where exactly she is, I told her to stay put, left everything as it was and got on the first taxi on the street to get her. I did exactly what I would want someone to do for my daughter in the same situation.”
The second family that we visited is located in Zapote, a ten-minute bus ride from ACI office. The district is nice and calm, and the center is within walking distance. “This host family is our favorite pick for female volunteers,” explains Mauricio. The host mother has four grown-up daughters of her own, so it is an entirely feminine household. After ringing the bell, the great black iron gate opened and doña Marica greeted us with a huge smile on her face. “Please come in.” She invited us into her small front yard and aimed directly towards the volunteers’ room. The room is tiny, but cozy, and has a separate entrance so that the volunteers can have more privacy. “We have just repainted it,” she explains the strong chemical smell hovering in the air.
Then we moved our gathering into their large living room, where we were greeted as usual by a cup of coffee, and doña Marica started talking about her experience with foreign volunteers. They have been partnering with ACI for four years already and have volunteers at their house sometimes even five months in a row. As Mauricio mentioned before, they love hosting female volunteers. “Even if the volunteers do not speak Spanish at all when they arrive, after a week with my girls they are able to understand and chat about everything. They organize beauty parlor sessions, dance crazy in front of the TV and go out together. It is great to see them interact with such ease.”
Doña Marica does everything for the volunteers to engage with the host family. “For example, we decided that we will not place a TV in the volunteer’s room, and also the main computer is in the living room. This way they have to get out of their room and join us, even if they just want to check their e-mail or call their family through Skype. It is always so much fun to talk to their parents and ensure them that everything is going great!”
Because of the relaxed and friendly atmosphere, we stay and chat there much longer than expected. When it is time to leave, I would have given anything to be able to do a volunteering trip to Costa Rica just to be able to live with doña Marica. As both her and doña Iliana proudly state, they are the typical mama gallina, the mother hen that would do anything to protect her little chicks. And it is exactly this amazing approach that often makes the volunteering experience so unforgettable.
For more information on living with a host family while volunteering abroad, visit our website!
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
United Planet is an international non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. We connect people who want to make a difference in communities across the world through overseas volunteer travel programs, global virtual internships & volunteering, and project-based virtual exchange programs. With opportunities in more than 40 countries, you will learn, teach, work, engage and immerse yourself in a culture outside your comfort zone. For many, volunteering abroad is the most fulfilling experience of their lives!
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