Culture Shock!

Hey Y'all! It's been a while since I last posted something. I've had a few people ask me where all my October posts were. I apologize for the lack of posts during this past month. It's been a pretty busy month. I've been adjusting to my new life and job in a new country and that definitely takes a lot out of a girl.

Today, I'm writing about my experience with........you guessed it! Culture Shock! One thing that I have found is that so many people believe culture shock happens immediately when you arrive in a new place. While that is somewhat true, it's not entirely correct. Culture shock, according to medium.com, happens in 4 stages: the honeymoon, frustration, adjustment and acceptance. Click here to see the article!

The first phase, the honeymoon, is usually what you experience when you first arrive. When everything is new and beautiful. You can't get enough of the people, the food, the culture, etc. If you don't stay somewhere long enough, the honeymoon, can/will last the whole trip.

The second phase, frustration, is where the homesick frustration sets in (obviously, that's why it's called the frustration phase!).  This phase usually hits hard around the 3 month mark of being in a new place and is when the little things that you found so intriguing before, frustrate the crap out of you now! Things like struggling to understand the language when asking for directions, trying to do things that should take 30 minutes and finding them taking all day, and having to run around to 6 different places just to get a package sent to you by your family in the states (yes, this is my current situation). This is where you're usually wondering "What the heck am I doing here? I should just go home!" I definitely don't recommend wallowing in this phase or these feelings however.

The third phase is the adjustment phase. This is the phase where you really start to adjust to the new way of life. It's where you make an active decision to "go big or go home!" for lack of a better description. You have to choose to not stay in the frustration phase, instead doing what is necessary to adjust to the culture so that you can finally come to the 4th and final stage, acceptance.

The fourth stage, acceptance is when you finally accept that "Yes, this is different. No, I'm not going to always understand or get it but that's okay and I'm happy where I am." This is the stage that I'm aspiring to reach.

Currently, I am teetering between frustration and adjustment. Some days are definitely better than others. Just last week, I broke down in the post office because I couldn't get the package that I've been waiting for from my family. I have to request permission for some of the items in the box to be imported which is just another hurdle for me to climb. However, it's not the end of the world. I cried when it happened, now I'll request permission and go about my business to continue adjusting. I know now, that I shouldn't have anything shipped to me.

I am definitely continually growing and adjusting and while I'm slowly but surely adapting, I definitely can't wait to see all my friends and family when I'm back in the States for Christmas Break. Unfortunately, the homesickness never goes away and quite honestly, the 4 stages of culture shock tend to repeat themselves. However, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll just keep doing what I've been doing, FaceTiming my family and friends, staying in touch via Facebook and enjoying this beautiful country and all it has to offer!

Until next time,

Travel to expand your horizons, Live life at your own pace and Be happy!

Love Always,

Kelli Marie

Six Weeks In

It's been a pretty busy and intense past couple of weeks for me. As I am nearing the end of my 6th week here in Costa Rica, I'm happy to say that I'm adjusting pretty well.

Lets catch you up!

On September 15th, I - along with 16 others - graduated from the International TEFL Academy- Costa Rica course! What an AMAZING 4-week course and experience!

August 2017 ITA TEFL Class

The Tuesday prior to graduating, I had a second interview with a company called Idioma Internacional. They are a language institute that services large corporations and Colegios (High Schools) here in Costa Rica. I was offered a full-time position with them later that evening! Whoo hoo!!

Also that day, I went to view an apartment for me and Casey to hopefully move. The unit was a 5th floor condo, 2 bed/2 bath, fully furnished with a washer and dryer (very rare here). The rent was $800/mo. After showing my roommate the videos, we decided that we wanted it! We had keys in hand by Friday afternoon and were all moved in by Saturday evening!

Everything fell in place pretty quickly for us. I started training for my job last Thursday, Sept. 21st and finish today!

Unfortunately, I lost my phone in an Uber on Saturday morning. I tried all day to get in contact with the driver to no avail. I reached out to Uber and the driver multiple times and Uber finally stepped in. Just when I was about to give up hope for getting it back completely, the driver called me yesterday (Thursday- 6 days later) and returned my phone! PTL!

I'm excited to have finally received my official teaching schedule as well! I have 18 teaching hours/wk right now. That amounts to one 3hr class that meets once a week, one 2hr class that meets twice a week, one 1.5hr class that meets twice a week and two 4hr classes that meet once a week. My two 4hr classes are with high school aged students and all of my other classes are corporate classes.

I'm also training to become a BELT (Business English Level Test) Evaluator. This is a test that is administered by our company to test and assign English placement levels. Companies come to us to request testing for internal purposes, recruitment and for class placement. Individuals come to us as well for personal assessment. Once I finish the training, I'll add BELT shifts to my schedule.

Another thing I'm pretty excited about is the opportunity to do some social media and marketing work for Idioma. Thanks to my background, the Academic Director of the company wants to assign additional hours for me to work on special projects. I'm looking forward to being able to use my other skill sets as well as my newly gained skill sets.

Last, but certainly not least, I'm starting to focus on my personal business again. Looking forward to growing my company, Kelli Marie Consulting, LLC. I'm currently accepting work as a Virtual Assistant. If you or anyone you know needs assistance virtually, please email kellimarieconsulting@gmail.com.

I think that's all I have for this update! Hopefully, now that I've settled down, I'll be able to post a bit more regularly and about different topics regarding teaching, my experiences and the country of Costa Rica itself!

Until then, Travel and experience new things, Live for today and not tomorrow, and Be whoever you want to be! 

Love Always, 

Kelli Marie

The Dreadful Week 3!

Whew!!! Week 3 has officially come and gone and I am truly thankful to say "I made it thru!!!" They were not kidding when, in week one, the told us to be prepared because "week 3 is coming!" This week was a tough one. Classes were filled with lots of grammar points, evenings were filled with student teaching and lots of homework quizzes, tasks and lesson plans. On Thursday night, I almost cried because I was so stressed working on a lesson plan that was due at midnight. Top that all off with multiple interviews and you're in for one hell of a week. However, I ended the week on a high note with an A in my student teaching practicum on Friday evening and I got my homework submitted before the last minute, today and yesterday! If you know me and how much of a procrastinator I am, then you know that's a big deal for me!

Other than that, week 3 was pretty awesome as well! A large group of us hung out to watch Costa Rica vs Mexico on Tuesday night and on Wednesday night, a group when to the indoor soccer field to play. I didn't play but I had a blast sitting on the sidelines with my roommate, Casey. This weekend, I was glad to have practically nothing to do and be able to relax.

Week 4 starts tomorrow and on Friday, we will officially be certified TEFL Instructors! I'm looking forward to completing this course but I will definitely miss the friends that I've made throughout the month-long program. I'm hoping that we'll all end up staying here in CR and staying connected for the foreseeable future. Friendships that are made during experiences like these are invaluable and I'm glad to call this amazing group of adventurous souls, my friends! I'm also looking forward to getting some sleep that isn't interrupted by the chickens and turkeys hopefully soon!

Stay tuned for the graduation and job update at the end of the week!

Until then, Travel far, Live freely and Be amazing!

Love Always, 

Kelli Marie

Second Week

I am officially half way through the program and I'm getting more excited about being here daily! This week, I taught for the first time! Well first two times. I scored a B+ with my first class and an A with my second class. I'm feeling pretty good about it all!

I also started applying for jobs during week 2. I lined up 3 job interviews and have completed two of them. I'm excited to see what happens going forward! I will be applying for a bunch more jobs this week. My goal is to work and live in the San Jose area, close to San Pedro or Zapote. Hopefully, I'll have more information in the next few days.

I will officially be finished with my program in 2 weeks! We've been warned that week 3 can get pretty intense! Pray for my sanity! I will also, hopefully, be completely settled on my own in no more than 3 weeks. I'm really looking forward to truly starting this journey!

I'll be back to post more sometime this week!

Until then, Travel, Live, and just Be. 

Love Always, 

Kelli Marie 

First week complete!!

So I'm writing this as I'm sitting looking at the scenery in the photo above! The first week of my TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) course is finally complete!!! Yesterday was the last day of class and we spent today traveling to and on the beach. 

I'm feeling pretty good about this course so far! We got an introduction to TEFL and a bunch of grammar refreshers. We also started lesson planing since we start student teaching next week. My first class is Monday!!!! 😳😳😳 

It's all good though! I'm actually pretty excited about it! My first lesson plan was approved and I completed my second for Wednesday with assistance from my instructor. I'm feeling pretty good about it all! 

The week was intense! Long days and lots of "homework"! Unfortunately, from what I understand, it's only going to get worse! However, everyone that I've spoken to says it's completely worth it, in the end! I believe that. 

In addition to classes this week, the Festival of Barva is happening! They've had a carnival-like set up in the town park all week. Yesterday, was the day of St. Botolomé. The town's citizens dressed up in crazy outfits and scary looking masks and danced in the streets. They also carried pig bladders filled with water and hit people with them. It was crazy!!!! 

Now, I'm sitting on a beach in my happy place! Looking forward to spending the weekend here. Another post about this weekend is yet to come! 

Until then, Travel to new places, Live unscripted, and Be FABULOUS!!! 

Love always, 

Kelli Marie

Lions, Tigers and Waterfalls???

Ok so I haven't seen any lions or tigers but the title made me chuckle a bit. hehehe

Well, I've been in Costa Rica since Tuesday and it's been a pretty eventful week. I met my host mom's mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew on Wednesday after we walked to the school. Thursday, we met my host mothers daughter in downtown Heredia and went to El Mercado de Heredia (the market of Heredia). They introduced me to this really good candy that tastes like butter!! mmm, yummy!! A couple of my classmates, Spencer and Margaret came in on Thursday evening so we made plans to meet on Friday. We met at the school and then walked to Spencer's host family's house, hoping to meet some other classmates but found their flight was delayed, after a 40 minute walk! It was still cool though, We met his host mom and another student from a previous class, Andy. The four of us went to a local bar to hang out and ended up staying until about 7pm.

                                          Me, Spencer, Andy and Margaret (Left to right)

Saturday, my host mom and I went to downtown Heredia again for her to run some errands. In the process, she ended up locking the keys in the car. It took, 4 people, in addition to me and Maria, 45+ minutes to get us back in the car. When we got back, I met up with my classmates again and got to meet some others as well. My roommate came in last night around 7pm. Her name is Casey Cochran and she's from Kansas.

Today, the school offered an excursion to La Paz Waterfall and Nature Gardens. The tour typically goes to Volcań Poas as well but the volcano decided to become active back in April. The park has been closed for obvious reasons ever since.

A group of 10 students, plus 3 staff members from the tour company, met at the school this morning around 6:45AM. Our driver drove us through the downtown Alajuela area first to tell us a little bit about the history of the country.

After that, we drove up into the mountains/volcano's, and stopped at a coffee plantation. Our tour guide, Filander or Fila, had a wealth of knowledge about the country, the coffee and everything in between!

                                                                Kelli & Filander (Fila)

                                                                     Coffee Plantation

Shortly after visiting the plantation and trying their coffee, we stopped for a traditional Costa Rican breakfast of Gallo Pinto. It's a dish that consists of rice and beans together. Then we continued on to the gardens.

While in the gardens, we saw and learned about so many different species of flowers and fauna. We also saw many birds, butterflies, snakes, jungle cats, frogs and more.

After visiting the nature gardens, we hiked down to the waterfalls. It was amazing! The views were crazy and even though the trek down was steep and scary (I'm afraid of heights), it was completely worth it! I will say this though, the journey back up, reminded me why I need to get my but up and walk/run daily! I thought I was gonna die climbing those stairs!!!!

All-in-all, the day was amazing and the memories and new friendships created were worth every penny!

Class officially starts tomorrow so I'm looking forward to continuing this adventure and sharing it with you!

Until then, Live out loud, Travel the world and Be authentically you!

Love always,
Kelli Marie

Arrival

It's been a long time coming! I've been planning for this move since February 2017 and I'm finally here! My goal was to post this first entry yesterday but it was a ridiculously long day and I was exhausted. Now that I'm well rested, I can tell you a bit about my new, temporary digs.

I arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, yesterday, August 15th after about a 4-4.5 hour flight. After breezing through immigration and customs, I met with my driver, John, who brought me to my host family. John was really cool and get this, he's born and raised Seventh Day Adventist!

Anyways, my host family is pretty nice.The mom's name is Maria Eugenia and the dad's name is Jose Fabio. They have 3 grown kids, one of which lives with her husband and kids in the annex apartment behind the main house. They also have two dogs, India and Uncle, as well as a lot of chickens and a turkey!

I have my own room and will have one other student staying here in the room next to mine. We start class on Monday, August 21. Yesterday, while going to get a Costa Rican sim card & phone number, my host parents drove us past the school so that I could see my walking route. It's about a mile or so away from their house. I'll actually walk it today so that I can get accustomed to the route.

That's all I have for now! Looking forward to seeing what each day brings and sharing my journey with you all! Until then, remember to Travel often, Live your life and just Be you!

Love always, 

Kelli Marie