Pura Vida, Costa Rica!

Traveling to another country - especially one that speaks a language that you, I, no... we aren't familiar with - feels scary. This is the beauty of a voluntourism organization; voluntourism allowed me to get a sense of what it is like to be in a foreign land, while still remaining in a (semi) familiar community. At the end of the day, my experience in Costa Rica reflects something much different than what an actual Tican goes through day to day. Which is fine; even a small exposure to a new way of doing things profoundly affected me. And that is what the "Cross - Cultural Solutions" is all about: taking people who know one way of existing and baring them to some other people who know another way of existing. Cross - Cultural Solutions facilitated this interaction between different modes of existence as well as a non-profit organization could/would/should. Which is to say they did fine. Even, great! The all inclusive room and board was comfy and authentically delicious. The climate of the house that I lived in felt safe - both physically and socially. Advertised as "cross cultural lessons," the Spanish and dance lessons felt more like after school specials for a middle schooler than life altering cultural exchanges - but whatever, I still knew Spanish a whole hell of a lot better by the time I got back stateside. For around $5,000, it was worth it. Will I ever do a month of voluntourism again? Doubtful; I think a more DIY approach is for me. All of that said, Cross-Cultural Solutions, establishing structure, rules, and presence in the local community, gave me the courage to consider a more DIY travel option in the future; CCS (and other voluntourism entities by extension) is like travel training wheels - so, so helpful.