Can't believe it's already over

Nathan, 18

We are home, and as great of a feeling as it is, I wish we were still in Costa Rica. It doesn't seem right not being woken up by people getting up super early to take a shower, or by teachers knocking on our door to make sure we're up. Now I wake up by myself or by my dogs barking at squirrels in my backyard. This trip has come to an end really quick, and it didn't take too long for me to grasp the truth about it being over. I know that I am not in a country that I have fallen in love with, but I'm back in the country that I call home. Since being back, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the whole trip, and what Larry stated in his blog, "I can guarantee they're missing everything that we left in Costa Rica", I fully believe that this is an accurate statement. I have talked with a few of my new "family" members since coming back, and it seems that we are all missing something that we left behind.

Over the past 12 days, my perspective on life has completely changed. Before traveling, I knew that I would be experiencing something I have never had a chance to experience before now. I just didn't know how it would effect me in the end. Everyone I have talked to that has gone on past trips said that it changed their life, and now I understand why. This trip is a complete eye-opener to what the world really is. Seeing how other people live in a different country compared to people in the USA is different. One prime example of this is if something needs to get done. While in Yorkin and La Carpio if something needed to be done, people got to it, and didn't complain about it. Here in the USA, if something needs to get done, people will procrastinate, or go and hire someone to do it for them. On another note, there are some similarities between Costa Rica, and the USA but none that are really eye catching like the differences. Another way this trip has really effected me is that I now know that I don't have to rely on the advancements that we have here in the USA. While in Costa Rica we barely used any form of technology, and when we did it was only when we had to blog.

This trip has really been a trip of lifetime, and I miss being in Costa Rica already. I have started to adapt back to how my life was before leaving, and I'm enjoying what I have left for my final break of high school. Thinking on everything that we did down there, and trying to bring that to my life hasn't really been a challenge. While down in Costa Rica I barely used any form of technology (i.e cellphone, computer, video games...etc.), and now I don't feel like I need to use any of those.

Finally, this trip really helped open my eyes to the world, and it makes me want to see even more of it. Maybe while I am in college I will study aboard in Costa Rica, and meet up with some of the people that I have already met. But in the meantime I'll still be thinking COSTA RICA 2015!