July 21, 2008

Senior guard Brionna Dickerson is in Costa Rica, studying abroad as part of her international business degree. The program includes 20-25 students who take classes in the morning and have their afternoons free for exploring. Brionna will check in with GamecocksOnline periodically during her trip.

July 20, 2008
Today is the start of a week of parties and events in Liberia. There will be a parade of the princess of Liberia and other events like bull riding, concerts, and a fair. Some of the guys in our group have even decided to get in the ring with the bulls. The person that is left standing gets a prize, but in my opinion, the prize is just making it out of the ring.

The start of this event officially marks two weeks that I have been in Costa Rica, but to me, its feels like I have already been here a month. This definitely brings new meaning to the story “La Muñeca de Sal” that my teacher read to us last week. The story is about a doll made of salt that lives in the desert and has never seen the sea. Therefore, one day it decides to take a journey to the sea. When he finally arrives, he could only stare and admire its vastness. Then he decides to put a foot into the sea, but his foot dissolves in the water. Then the sea remarks, “If you want to know who you are, you should enter more.” Little by little, he dissolved into the sea, and by the end, he realized that he was the sea.

Now at first, I thought that my teacher might have mistaken us for kindergarteners that needed a bedtime story, but when I really sat down and thought about it, I understood. This trip has been my opportunity to become immersed into another society, into another culture. I have experienced so much, and I am almost at that point of full submersion. The part of me that still floats is the part that misses my friends and family back home, but I think I understand now that this feeling is a natural part of the immergence.

When I was in high school, I had a chance to go to Costa Rica for a week, but it was more like a vacation than anything else. This experience, though, has fully submerged me, but it is up to me to open my eyes and enjoy. There is no point in being submerged in beauty if you are not willing to open your eyes and take it all in. Moreover, the pictures I take will be my way of opening the eyes of others who have not had this opportunity. This is a once in a lifetime experience, but thankfully I’m getting a second chance to really take advantage of it.

PURA VIDA