Pura Vida!

Hola! Estoy en Costa Rica! My sisters thought starting a blog would be a good way to show and tell everyone back at home what I'm up to during my four month adventure to Costa Rica so here is what I have been doing so far. I left Seatac airport last Friday and after a heated conversation about visa requirements and a mild panic attack, I was allowed on the plane and on my way to Denver for a 6 hour layover. Luckily my Donelle lives in Denver and was able to come pick me for dinner. We visited for a few hours and ate at TGIF's (which is really cool because I've seen a million commercials for that restaurant and have always wanted to go, but Washington unfortunately doesn't have them). Anyways after taking the red eye flight from Denver (and getting absolutely no sleep at all), I was finally in San Jose, Costa Rica at 6:15 am Friday. The view from the plane was absolutely gorgeous, I could see the pacific ocean beaches, the mountains that were covered in rain forests, and many rivers. Since I had been in Seattle and Denver I was dressed in a North Face, jeans and boots, and before I could even get to baggage claim I was so hot and sweaty I thought I was going to die, the humidity in Costa Rica is no joke! Our program drove us to our new university to introduce us to the family that we would be living with for the next four months and when we arrived I was greeted by 66 year old Nuria and her husband Jorge! To my surprise, I was informed that Nuria did not speak a word of english and her husband could only say a few words...How the hell am I supposed to live and talk with these people if they don't speak any english? Not gonna lie I was freaking out for while, but within hours I realized that it was much easier to communicate with them than I thought it would be, and I realized I know a lot more spanish that I thought I did, having simple conversations haven't been a problem at all! The rest of the day was spent unpacking and meeting my new housemate Chelsea. She's from University of Minnesota Deluth studying economics and spanish, and thank god I have someone in the house with me that speaks some english!!

Over the next few days we had orientations, and tours to help us learn more about the city and program. The city tour was amazing. Although San Jose is not the prettiest city in the world (in fact it is very run down looking and is extremely sketchy) there is an odd beauty to it. In any direction you look you can see the rain forests and mountains in the distance. They are much more Americanized than I thought they would be, they have taco bell mcdonalds and kfc on almost every street, and many of them same stores and brands as in the United States, except everything is in Spanish! My neighborhood is in the San Pedro area and it is about a 20 minute walk to my school everyday. The house I am living in is adorable, I have my own room with a giant chair and desk and tv, and Chelsea and I share a bathroom. My house mom Nuria is absolutely amazing, she is the sweetest, kindest lady I have ever met. She cooks all day and our meals are DELICIOUS and huge, I'm really nervous I'll be coming back to the U.S about 20 pounds heavier (god please help me NO). We get fresh fruit every morning, papaya, pinneapple, mangos, and bananas, and it is the best fruit I have ever had!! Our meals consist of rice, beans, tortillas, pico de gallo, salsa, chicken, fajitas, eggs, we even had french toast for breakfast this morning! My new favorite thing in fried plaintains which are giant banana looking vegetables that you fry and put guacamole on top of..YUMMMMMMM. There are a million dogs running around all over the place all the time, it's actually really sad and they all look homeless and starving and I want to bring them all home with me, but Nuria does not like animals! Lol There are lots of bugs, mini mini little ant type things, and they are everywhere, showers, kitchen, tables, but it truthfully hasn't bothered me, I just pretend they aren't there. There are just some things that are going to take some getting used to... like not being able to flush toilet paper in the toilet, or not being able to walk alone or carry nice things, not being able to speak english..ever, or eating dinner at 7 or 730 every night! The men here yell and hiss at you all day.. you would think they had never seen a white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, its quite uncomfortable, the entire bus stares at you, but you just get used to it. I love this place and I love these people! My ISA group of people are great, I love all the girls and we are starting to become good friends! We all went out to the clubs and bars last night near the Universidad de Costa Rica and it was a lot of fun!! The drinks are really cheap and the latin music is great! Who knew going out on a Tuesday would be so much fun!

My class schedule ended up being great, no school on Friday! On Mondays and Wednesdays I have 3 classes at 9, 10:30 and 3, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have one class at 3 oclock, sounds good to me!! Everyone is super laid back, and laid back here, its a wonderful environment. It is clear blue skies and in the 80's everyday, which makes everything that much better! All in all the first 5 days have been perfect! Were headed to the beach for the weekend, Playa Tamarindo in Guanacaste. Time for some tanning on the beach and snorkeling with the fishies! I'll upload pictures when I return!