The beginning of an Adventura…
What a day! After two connecting flights yesterday, I stayed overnight in Philadelphia before my first ever international flight. It wasn’t really that scary after all, and security wasn’t nearly as terrifying as they are cracked up to be. After a five hour flight behind someone who insisted on reclining his chair, I finally arrived in Costa Rica- WARM AT LAST!
I met some other students while waiting for baggage, and then came the scary part- I had to figure out who was looking for me. After getting with the wrong group (CEA) I met up with the person looking for ISA students. I was the first of 11 to show up, and ended up waiting outside for two and a half hours while other students showed up- which was nice, since it was a balmy 75 degrees out. We all met and chatted about where we were from, how we were nervous, and how we all know we are going to get homesick- some sooner rather than later.
The bus that picked us up took us to the school area, where our host moms picked us all up. My housemate and I met Ana Luisa, our house mom- who is a whole foot shorter than me- who took us to her home in Zapatos. We spent some time all getting to know each other, and I found out my housemate knows less Spanish than me, and our house mom knows very limited English- great way to practice my Spanish.
After a crazy and somewhat stressful day, it’s off to bed for me- orientation at 9:15 am, and finally internet tomorrow!
Day two- still no internet for my laptop makes me sad. I got a little homesick today, mostly because it feels unnatural to not spend quality time with both my cell phone and my laptop. ISA orientation was today, and provided mostly information I already knew. It was also the first time I used “the great gringo killer”- aka the shower. Here, they combine electricity and water- sounds deadly, right??? But apparently you just don’t touch the shower head and it won’t kill you. It’s interesting because the heat of your shower varies with the water pressure- so when I use no water pressure, I get hot water J Started making friends today, and went with them to the shopping center in San Paulo, one of the closer ones.
(Blog entry written a night before it was actually posted)
Day three- much busier. I spent the morning at Veritas (mi escuela) for orientation after a traditional Costa Rican breakfast of eggs, rice, and beans with toast and orange juice. After orientation, we had time for lunch at a pizzeria before our city orientation. San Jose is a crazy place! Definitely very different from all the other cities I've been to. It really exposes the third world situation of Costa Rica. After our city tour, I had another traditional Costa Rican meal for dinner, and now I finally have internet at home!!!
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