Spanish Immersion The First Couple Of Days

I still remember my first couple of days of my Spanish immersion program like it was yesterday. I flew into Liberia, Costa Rica at the end of July which is the rainy season. After going through customs and getting my bags I was met by my driver who was holding a big sign with my name on it. Soon we were off to the home of my host family in Santa Rosa which is located a couple of Km from Tamarindo. After driving for about 45 min through a heavy rain we were met by my family waiting for me at the corner in the rain of course. After introductions were made my driver was off and I was left to fend for myself. I really did not know what to expect. I was told they spoke no English and at that time I spoke no Spanish. Soon we were in the house and I was showed my room after I had unpacked my things I found a couple of toys I had brought for the two young boys they were very happy to get them and wanted me to show them how they worked. I found that the boys and the father spoke no English but the mother and her daughter who was visiting from San Jose spoke quite a little English, although they mostly spoke to me in Spanish that's the point of immersion.

When Monday morning arrived I could hardly wait to get to school. My host mom walked me to bus where I was met by a small bus from the school. This was used to transport student to and from school soon I was on the bus and on my way to the first day of classes. When we got to there I was introduced to the director and some of other students, then it was off to the beginner class for me and an engineer from Illinois and an insurance agent from New Orleans. Our teacher was a young lady who spoke no English, needless to say the first couple of days where hard but fun. When class was over I met a group of students who invited me to join them at a local soda, which is what they call a café for lunch. One of them was a girl from Switzerland we would later become good friends and surfing partners. There were a lot of people there from all over and a lot of different walks of life. The majority of them were collage students but after a couple of weeks most of them were gone to return to school.

That afternoon after a relaxing day at the beach and watching one of the many beautiful sun sets I was back on the bus heading to Santa Rosa. The bus driver dropped me off and I started walking down to the house. I met a large dog whose name I later found out was (Muñeco) which is Spanish for doll let me tell you that day he was no doll. I guess he thought who this guy on my street as the situation with him deteriorated rapidly I let out a cry for help as I feared he was getting ready to bite me. Soon my family came to my rescue and introduced me to Moñeco. After that we became good friends and many days I would find him waiting for me at the bus stop to walk me home.


Brock Higdon is a former Spanish immersion student and the owner of Learnspanishandsurf.com Brock lived in Costa Rica for over a year and has attended and visited many Spanish Immersion schools.