The First Day (4/29/2012)

          "Pura Vida" to all our fellow readers! For those of you who don't know, "Pura Vida" is the motto here in the country of Costa Rica and means basically, "the good life". Our first day was quite the hectic one but somehow we all survived. After waking up before the sun to get on our bus to Chicago at 4, it made for a very long bus ride. We started off the day with an approximately 5 hour drive in a charter bus to Chicago with a few stops on the way to pick up fellow students and get breakfast at the oasis stop, about an hour outside of Chicago. When we arrived in Chicago we began the very long process of getting our whole groups bags checked and all making it through security. At 12:30 we took off from Chicago and headed towards Dallas, Texas. When we arrived in Dallas we had a little break before we took off again towards San Jose, Costa Rica. 

            Once we landed in Costa Rica, at least for me, the nerves began to set in as I became very excited, but also nervous to begin all of our adventures in my new home for the next three weeks. Once in Costa Rica we began to bring out our Spanish with the other students to practice before we met our new families. We had to go through customs and then exchange our American money for the money used here in Costa Rica known as colones. The money here is much different than the money in the United States and is taking some time to get used to. For example, 500 colones is the same as 1 dollar which also means 5 colones is the same as 1 penny in the USA.

          Going through customs and exchanging our money, for many, were the first experiences talking with native Spanish speakers, and for some was definitely an adventure! Next came the switch, we officially switched off our English and turned on our Spanish before meeting our new families for the first times. I remember walking through the doors and seeing people everywhere, all holding signs with our names on them. Once we found our parents, we were free to go for the night. I'm sure all of us learned quite quickly how crazy and fast people drive here, it was honestly a little bit scary and makes me thankful that i wont be driving at all! 

          For Anne and I, our parents decided to take us to a restaurant where were were able to experience our first meal in Costa Rica! Of course our plates came with rice and beans, two things we will be eating a lot of while we are here in Costa Rica. We talked for awhile with our parents and then said our good-nights because we had homework to do before the first day of class. 

          Although the first night was a little overwhelming, it was a lot of fun and ensured me that the next three weeks are going to be a blast and i am going to be learning a lot from not only going to school, but even more from talking with my family.