Hola! (hello!) My name is Natalya Brown! I am 25 years old and I am from Raleigh, NC. There are so many things that I enjoyed about my hometown. I loved going hiking in the mountains, running on the greenway and visiting the beach! I also loved the food, which included grits, chicken and waffles and greens. NC is also where I spent my college days.
I attended Meredith College where I studied Spanish and Sociology as my majors with a minor in Psychology. Throughout my time there, I began to travel and study a lot. I remember how nervous and excited I was before leaving for my first long trip abroad. I was going to live with a family in Costa Rica! I had so many questions and doubts. Would they be kind? Would we be able to understand each other? Would they have any pets? Would I connect with their daughter? There were so many things to think about! After arriving and meeting the family, I realized I would learn a lot from them.
During the day, I focused on building my Spanish speaking skills at the instituto (institute) and in the evening I got to spend time learning about Costa Rican foods, like frijoles (beans) and platanos (bananas).
