Livin' the Dream

*Previous entry*

Hello everyone! I am excited to be able to share my journey and experiences with you in Monteverde, Costa Rica! With about two weeks left until my departure from Chicago to San Jose, my winter break has been everything but lackluster. As I say my goodbyes to friends and family, I assure them of exciting blog posts and ample Skype dates. The majority of my time has been frantically spent brushing up on my Spanish speaking skills. I definitely want to hit the ground running when I arrive in Costa Rica. Despite having already taken four semesters worth at the UW, I am nowhere near ready to begin conversing. I still forget the translation for simple nouns and verbs that I should know by now! But hey, that’s one of my main goals for this program- to become more fluent with the Spanish language. Immersing myself in the culture of Costa Rica is the optimal way for me to become more fluent.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve known exactly what I wanted to do with my career. Science, specifically marine biology, has always intrigued me, largely in part because of Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin. Watching them on television as I was growing up fueled my desire to eventually become a marine biologist. It wasn’t until learning about Costa Rica through an extensive research project in high school that sparked my interest to study there. While my program in Monteverde is not specifically focused on marine biology, rather tropical ecology and conservation, there is no doubt that this program will overlap with my field of study, seeing as I love nature. Now that I am two weeks away from actually beginning my high school desire feels so surreal to me. As each day goes by, I succumb to the feeling of shock and disbelief, but at the same time, elation. I can only wonder what experiences will await me some 3,500 miles away from Milwaukee. Other than a quick cruise to the Bahamas, this will be my first out-of-country trip that I’ll be able to recall (childhood trips to Europe and Asia with my mom don’t count- I was too little to remember them!) Researching the culture of a group of people and experiencing it first-hand are completely different. Encountering a completely different culture will provide me with a greater knowledge and understanding that words simply cannot describe.

I would like to end this post with a little bit about myself. I’m a junior here at UW-Madison majoring in zoology. As a Milwaukee native and resident, you would think I’m a Green Bay Packers fan…wrong. The Minnesota Vikings are my team. Weird huh? People always ask ‘why?’ so my response is always, “I’m a Packers fan by birth, Vikings fan by choice,” but that’s another story. I love to scuba dive and go deep-sea fishing. I love to watch House,  The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Fresh Prince, Criminal Minds, and no joke, the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Stay tuned to hear the rest of my adventures! The next time I write I’ll hopefully be relaxing on the outskirts of one of Costa Rica’s numerous rainforests!

Hasta pronto,

See you soon,

Alex