During my senior year as Headgirl at Nassau Christian Academy , my Spanish teacher Mrs. Milagros Henfield chose me to participate in the 1st Annual Spanish PowerPoint Competition with Carferid. As my first task, I had to create a PowerPoint presentation in Spanish on the topic “A Comparison of the Teenage Life in the Bahamas and the life of a Spanish speaking Country”. Later I had to present my presentation in front of a panel of judges and answer questions in reference to my presentation. This took place at the British Colonial Hilton. After the judges’ deliberation, three finalists were selected. A student from Kingsway Academy , another from St Johns College , and myself were chosen as the finalists.
Our second task was to create a commercial in English and Spanish on a product given by Carferid. My product given to me was Cottonelle Tissue. After two weeks, our commercials were taken to be judged. Finally the day had come for the results of the winner. After minutes after agonizing anticipation, the winner was announced. To my surprise, I had become apart of history. I describe as this because I was now the 1st place winner of the 1st Annual Spanish PowerPoint Competition. I had set the bar and standard for participants and competitors to push towards for the years to follow. My prizes were two trophies, one for my school and myself, a certificate, and an all-expensed paid trip to Costa Rica to attend schooling at the CPI (Centro Panamerican de Idiomas).
I really enjoyed my stay in Costa Rica . I stayed with a homestay family, and would walk to school. My house was rather far from the campus, but this enabled me to better grasped my surroundings and view more of the area I was in. At school, each week I was assigned a new teacher. Although what they taught me I already knew, I was glad to have a review of what I had already learnt. The teachers there are bilingual but rarely speak English, which facilitated the students in being fully emerged in learning the language. As well as the environment had many different students from around the world who were also interested in learning Spanish and English. I met many new people because of this. The classes were very small and had classes of three to five students, allowing the students to receive more attention in their weak areas.
Costa Rica is similar and yet very different in comparison to the Bahamas . Their time is two hours ahead and their winter is our summer and vice versa. They experience a large amount of rain, however they have sewer systems running alongside the road to prevent flooding. Both countries grow the same produce and have many of the same species of plants, however due to the amount of rain, theirs flourish a lot more and in more population. In Costa Rica , the cars are always at a fast pace. There are no road rights as in the Bahamas whereas one would stop to permit one to cross the road. Therefore you must learn to tread with caution. I had a few close encounters with cars there. However, they experience little traffic due to the system that they have created. On certain assigned days, cars ending in particular numbers are not allowed to drive. The drivers must take a taxi or take the bus as a means to reduce traffic on the road. The food is similar as well, rice is the most common dish prepared. Most meals include fresh fruits and drinks and many vegetables such as beans, cabbages, carrots, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and onions.
There are many things that the Bahamas can learn not only from Costa Rica but from many other countries to become more globalized and versatile. There are always positive benefits in learning and experiencing new ways to develop the nation, and languages and collecting substantial knowledge from other cultures assist to further push us to not only better ourselves but our country as well.
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