It has been almost two months since I’ve been back from Costa Rica. For the first few days, it felt a bit surreal and strange being back home. The climate change was definitely a shocker. I left behind the warm, tropical weather of Costa Rica and came back to the freezing, cold weather of the Windy City. The first two weeks consisted of holiday madness and birthday celebrations. It was really nice to see my family and tell them about my experience abroad. During this time, I also got to spend time with my best friends which was also very nice. I enjoyed my winter break and I was very happy I stayed in for the negative below zero weather Chicago experienced.

Four weeks ago, I started my final semester at UIC and this has been where I’ve experienced culture shock the most. Adjusting myself back to that fast-pace college life has been quite difficult. I’ve had to change my schedule a few times. I’ve had errands to do mostly consisting of visiting my advisors, dropping by the financial aid office, and making sure I am set to graduate this spring semester. I am currently taking a full-time schedule of five classes.

I miss Costa Rica a lot and if I would’ve had the opportunity to stay an extra semester I would’ve done it. I miss the fresh fruit, the weather, the people, the culture, the slow-pace rhythm of life, and just being immersed in a Latin American country. I encountered so much diversity in meeting many people from different countries of Latin America. The good thing about being back home is being able to bring with me the lessons I learned as well as the impact studying abroad has had in my life. Though I do miss Costa Rica very much, I am extremely excited for graduation and for the new chapter I will be starting in my life. The photographs for this blog are actually polaroids I took while I was in Costa Rica. The vintage quality of these photographs resemble memories of my journey abroad. I will like to end my final blog with a quote from one of my favorite movies.

“For what it’s worth, it’s never too late, or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. And I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. And if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

-Benjamin Button (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)