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Myralyn A.
Birmingham, AL
Group Leader - Multiple occasions

Happy Birthday, Conversa!

It is with great pleasure that my Samford students, colleagues and I send this word of congratulations to our dear friends at Centro Linguístico Conversa on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of its founding. For the past 20 of these years, we have been privileged to study Spanish there with you on your beautiful mountainside campus - that magnificent setting we all fall in love with at first sight. Our home stays with families in Santa Ana have been our home away from home, and our daily classes -- intensive, interactive, and entertaining - have taught us well and inspired us to deepen our understanding of both language and culture. Thanks to the skill, insight and professionalism of all the Conversa staff, we are nurtured throughout the learning process, with grammar instruction blended with conversation and students in constant contact with the language through a wide range of personal contacts with local people in the course of each day. Learning there takes on new dimensions as it becomes a tool for facilitating communication, making new friends, and finding our way around. With your guidance, our afternoons and weekends have been filled with interesting group activities, visits to local sites and enjoyment of the natural wonders of your beautiful Costa Rica. In recent years we have especially enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside Conversa personnel in service learning projects in the local community. As one student summed up the experience, "I have learned to not only greet people, but to understand them, their thoughts, and their feelings - not just who they are as a culture but who they are on the inside as individuals; Costa Rica was the best experience I have ever had."

So, on this momentous occasion, we at Samford extend not only our heartiest congratulations, but also our heartfelt thanks for being such delightful partners in the learning process. We wish you many happy returns of the day and God's richest blessings in the years ahead.

ˇPura vida!

Myralyn F. Allgood, Ph.D.
Professor of Spanish
Coordinator and Professor in Residence, Samford in Costa Rica
Department of World Languages and Cultures
Samford University
Birmingham, AL USA