Arrival In Costa Rica

Friday I took a red eye flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. The flights were quick and painless, minus the fact I was stuck in the middle seat, that was fun. There happened to be a group of kids from St. Ignacius High School who were heading for their immersion program. On my plane ride from El Salvador (where my lay over was) the lady in front of me was wearing a " I love my Ducks shirt" ( University of Oregon's Rosebowl shirt). Those were some comforting things to see as I was heading to a different country.

The first day I was there, I didn't do much. I was exhausted and had no idea what to do since I was by myself for the day and the next day. I soon realized that Costa Ricans are very laid back with no sense of time. I sat in the restaurant wanting a simple dinner and two hours later, I had finally gotten the check. It is kind of nice actually, no need to rush anywhere and no worrying about being late.

Today, Sunday July 4, i was supposed to go on a tour of a coffee plantation and some other things that i could not understand in Spanish. Waking up early to get breakfast and wait for my ride, i soon realized it was 8:30 and the ride never came. So i ended up not going on the tour and wondered around San Jose.

People watching is interesting here. When Mia was in Spain, she talked about how at a certain time everyone just went out and wandered aimlessly. I feel like that is what people do here. Im not sure where everyone was going but masses of people wandered the streets around 1:00. There were street vendors and people doing acts for money like in San Francisco. There is a square in the middle of down town where people gather to feed the pigeons. Costa Ricans are on the streets selling some sort of food for people to buy to feed them. I also noticed that ice cream is very popular. Everywhere i walked, everyone had ice cream cones, so naturally I got myself one also.

So far, Costa Rica has been treating me well. Tomorrow the other people in my program are arriving and we start our 6 weeks of Spanish immersion. Should be exciting!