Leaving

So I leave tomorrow for Costa Rica. I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I am really leaving. It probably won't until I get there and realize that I'm not coming home for a while.

It has taken me a while to pack. I have a hard time editing once I have decided what I all want to bring. My friend who just got home from a study abroad experience in Spain had to help me eliminate some of the clothing and other things that I really didn't need. Of course, Spain and Costa Rica are two very different countries so it isn't that similar, but she had a few good insights that I'd like to share.

1. Don't bring clothing that screams "I'm NOT from this country." You are studying abroad to learn about a different culture, and part of that is trying to dress similarly to the people around you. My friend suggested that I don't bring a ton of clothing that draws attention to the fact that I am not from Costa Rica. This helped eliminate a few shirts that I had packed. Not to mention, in some countries (like Spain and Costa Rica); they dress more formally on a regular basis than we do in the United States. So bringing a lot of sweatpants and sweatshirts isn't necessarily a good use of suitcase space.

2. Books take up space...and weigh a lot. In the age that we live in, we can translate almost everything we need to online and we are lucky to have online dictionaries and verb conjugation. My Spanish teachers will kill me for saying this, but if you're looking to open up some extra space (and ditch some weight), perhaps leaving your handy dictionary behind wouldn't be awful. Plus, most classrooms you go into will have at least a dictionary available for student use.

3. Use the photos on your computer. Most programs will recommend that you bring pictures or a scrapbook to show your host family so that they can get to know you a little better. Usually the pictures are of friends, family, pets, and things that mean a lot to you. In the age of digital cameras and computers, scrapbooks and printed out photographs lose a lot of their necessity, especially in international travel. If you are going away for a semester, you are most likely bringing your computer anyway so you might as well just show your host family the pictures you already have saved onto your computer. Personally, I am bringing a digital photo frame that some of my sorority sisters bought me that is loaded with photos of my friends, family, and pets, which is another good solution to the bulky photo book alternative.

I will be taking a duffel bag, a large check suitcase, a backpack, and a laptop bag with me, which, for me, isn't much. But I will be able to carry them all by myself, which is the most important thing. Don't bring so much that you can't handle it by yourself, because you will have to get your bags through customs by yourself.

And make sure you don't forget that you need school supplies. That is easily overlooked. ;D

Next you hear from me, I'll be in Heredia!

Pura Vida.