In this article, Gwen McNamara describes her journey to Costa Rica with AFS in 1974 and a recent reunion with her AFS family.
I was 15 in November 1973 when I received word that I was selected out of 14 contestants to receive an AFS scholarship. It was an anxious time waiting for my host family to be matched with me! I found out the end of December, and had to quickly prepare to leave the beginning of January!
[My] oldest host sister (there are five, with six brothers) picked me up in the crowded downtown San Jose Costa Rica AFS office, along with one of the uncles. We ate downtown, and then took the windy Pan-American Highway up to the mountains of San Marcos de Tarrazu.
The family lived in a four-bedroom house, with 12 people, so I shared a room with three of my sisters. The first few days, all the town and all the relatives came to ‘look at me’ and we sat for hours doing just that. We walked five miles to school, rain or shine, on the dusty or muddy roads. But first, we were obligated to stand in line to take a 5 AM cold shower, as Costa Ricans are fastidious about cleanliness and appearance. In 1974, I was allowed $11 in allowance a month, and that included stamps. There was one phone in the town, so I never called the US – I just wrote letters. Costa Ricans love their fiestas, so I attended quite a few. If there wasn’t one available, they would make one up on their own. I also had quite a few serenatas sung for me during my stay!
[During the first days of school] I cried, as there were no textbooks, and the teachers dictated the class content. We diligently had to scribe it down in our notebooks. I had a massive one-word long page of gibberish which I was supposed to study from! My sisters comforted me and gradually I accustomed myself to the routine and was actually able to decipher some of my writing. Thankfully, at the end of the year, I graduated with all A’s!
[Costa Ricans] have innate respect for the rainforest, [as it] will take over daily, and [they] have to keep up with so it doesn’t take over [their] property. At the same time, it is a symbiotic relationship, and provides food and oxygen for the rest of the planet. Costa Ricans have been forerunners in understanding the need to preserve endangered spaces and animals, and have purposely made that a huge part of their culture. They are also very entrepreneurial – they can take a lead for a start-up project and take it anywhere!
Tarrazu is the acclaimed best coffee region in Costa Rica. The brothers and Papa left each morning at four, with their machetes, and went to the steep slopes of the coffee farms to tend to the coffee. I arrived during the three months of coffee picking; I got really good at balancing the coffee basket in front of me, picking the red beans, and then carting the full basket to the large containers to be taken (yes, sometimes by oxen!) to the coffee cooperative to be processed. It was long and arduous work for the whole family plus workers – 6,000 feet high on slippery slopes – but [we had] lots of conversation and fun!
Coming from my home in San Luis Obispo, California, with only my mother and my sister, to a home full of 12 people, I was struck by how easily it was to adore a huge family. They made me feel like I was a solid part of their family, and as I left that year, I knew I had established a bond that would last. I even met a fellow AFS student from Germany in Costa Rica, and she invited me to live with her in Germany for a year after I returned, so my AFS experience actually lasted two years – I still keep up with my German family and friends!
I kept up letter writing after I left Costa Rica and corresponded with the sisters for years and years until the dawn of email and WhatsApp, which is what we now use to chat daily. Jorge, the brother my age, had originally applied for an AFS scholarship but didn’t succeed. So, during 1975, my own mother arranged to have him come to San Luis Obispo to stay a year! He was living at my house when I got back to California, and we finished up high school together.
That was the beginning of the family to family [connection]! Since 1975, almost all [my Costa Rican] family has come to visit or stay once or twice. We have had mishaps, disasters, and superbly funny times together through these years of which we can now laugh about.
I myself returned [to Costa Rica] each December for many years on college break. I was married in January of 1979, and Jim (my husband), having done volunteer work in Tijuana Mexico, already knew Spanish. We loved coming down to visit during the 80s with our kids, and in 1990 decided to buy some property outside of San Marcos and become small farmers growing coffee, apples, starfruit, lemons, and avocados. We lived in a remote part of Tarrazu; we had one very difficult-to-drive truck, and no telephone the entire time we were there – it was rustic living! During that time, my sister and cousin and various friends came to visit. It was a cultural experience for all of us which lasted three years. During that time, Jim had a [side business] of building houses (all word of mouth) and he built some gorgeous homes.
I had a long hiatus from visiting Costa Rica after the 90s as life went on. After COVID, one of the sisters said, “we are having a 72nd wedding anniversary party for Mama and Papa, why don’t you come?” So, I put on my mask and flew there, and was welcomed with open arms and loving hearts.
[The photo] of all of us signifies my 50-year love for this family and theirs for me. The last couple of years, I have returned to have fun with the sisters; next year we are planning a getaway to a resort somewhere in Costa Rica together!
AFS sort of sauntered into my life. My international connections are a huge part of my life. [Through AFS], I found that I could love and be loved with an open heart. I found joy, laughter, tears, and constant learning. I found great food, great environment, and a love for Costa Rica. Learning Spanish was ideal for me and has contributed to my career in working with the Hispanic population in California. I also was a part of [AFS] selection committees in my hometown and was a speaker to the international club at the high school. Coming from an internationally minded family, I would have done a lot of travel and learned about other people; but having the lived experience made all the difference. Nothing can beat being in person, eating the food, living the life, listening for hours on end to people talking another language, and observing firsthand. No virtual anything can top that – actual experiences rule!
I recently returned from Costa Rica after celebrating the 50th anniversary of my AFS year in 1974 to the Naranjo Blanco family in San Marcos de Tarrazu. It was an 8-hour event including lunch, coffee time, dessert cake, open bar, and activities. I was surrounded by mostly family (11 brothers and sisters) and five of my school mates. All together, 60 people attended! There was a revolving video of my life from [an] early age, to time with [my Costa Rican family], to present, and a live band playing all the favorites from the 70’s in Costa Rica. It was a spectacular event, one to be cherished, and the sisters and I are already planning our next year’s vacation together!
I felt [the reunion] was a celebration of Them, not of Me, as a tribute to all that they have given me through the years, and the interactions they have allowed me to have with their family and their country. 60+ people, who all call me auntie, or sister, or daughter, or friend, was something expected yet utterly fantastic to see in real life. I didn’t feel like the belle of the ball; I felt like the hostess, wanting to accommodate the people there into my life even more than they are already; each person there having a connection to me that somehow fell into place 50 years ago and still exists today. The best part is that it doesn’t just stop there. Yes, the 50 years was commemorated; but the beat goes on, and we will continue to share our lives even after this occasion.
– Gwen McNamara, Costa Rica (1974-75)