Day 1

Sorry for the delay on posting, this first week in Costa Rica has been full of adventure, but even excitement can be time-consuming.  Besides, I'm living in paradise, who has time to get on the computer anyways ?

So my first-ever airplane ride was super fun.  I met a wonderful couple on the plane who I still need to email btw, and they decided that I needed to sit by the window to see the beautiful sights since I had never seen them before.  We talked a lot along the way and it was really nice, especially since my nerves were doing the cucaracha.  The lady also told me not to worry ab where the airbags were bc if we crashed we wouldn't make it to find out, which I found to be truly hilarious.  Take off felt like a roller coaster that never goes back down the hill, and after about 4 hours of flying I was ready to get off the plane.  

Flying over Cuba

I had met Taylor in the Charlotte Airport, so when we got to San Jose we navigated the airport together.  It didn't take very long to get through immigration and customs, and I got my first passport stamp! Guys, I'm officially addicted !!

Everything went extremely quickly after we left the airport.  A taxi from the excursions director picked us up along with another independent study student and dropped us off at our housing assignments where I was quickly bombarded with Spanish. 

Devon, Me, and Taylor, straight off the plane into the Costa Rican Heat.
  It is no longer winter for us!

 I met a lady named Lorena, who hugged me and then left, and two younger girls who spoke less English than I spoke Spanish.  I was super nervous and had no clue what to say to them, but we worked through a conversation about whether the water was bacteriologically safe for my stomach to drink, and that's about all I remember.

Lorena returned with two more students who I was very happy to find out were also living in the house under a different program, which is why I had not heard about them before.  Nina and Amanda, the latter speaking Spanish pretty fluently and has since acted as pseudo-translator when I am in need ;)  After unpacking and having some pretty delicious food, we sat on the front porch as the evening cooled down watching fireworks to celebrate the end of the year and sipping some Bailey's that Lorena had prepared for us. 

Welcome to Costa Rica.