in the beginning...

Hopefully I have correctly set this up. I have just been connected to a wireless network and some websites are in Spanish, including this one. Apparently I have done okay so far as I have created an account.

I am posting the following from a Word document that I have been writing in until I had internet access.

Friday 5:00pm: I have arrived. The trip was fairly uneventful. Our flight from Houston to San Jose, Costa Rica, was delayed about an hour. I met several people who are in my program: Lauren (Nashville), Jessica (Boise) and Michael (Columbus). I will meet everyone else tomorrow when we have orientation and a tour of the university and city. My host mother and her sister picked me up at the airport. They are very nice, speak English and when they speak Spanish I find that I can follow along somewhat.

A few interesting things I noticed during the drive: a cactus hedge that looked like it was recently pruned (?!?), Ronald McDonald in the passenger seat of a truck, and what looked like a funeral procession-a van with a large flower arrangement on top and a group of people walking behind it in the street.

Their house is very nice. I have my own room and bathroom!!! They also have an internet connection and I will soon be connected in my room.

I have only been here several hours and have tried new things already. As soon as we got to the house, Marielos (my host mother) offered me a tropical fruit that she called a water apple. It was different; the taste made me think of a tropical flower. I also ate noodles with pieces of ham (I think) on top and broth. To drink she gave me juice made of a fruit called “cas” that she got off the tree in their front yard.

Friday 9:00pm: dinner: salad (lettuce with white cheese cubes), fish and rice. I also tried another fruit which I did not like. I found out after that they soak it in rum.
I am very tired. I have been up for 19.5 hours with only 1 hour of sleep last night. I will write more tomorrow.

Saturday: breakfast: egg on a piece of ham, toast and a plate of pineapple, banana and papaya.

I went to the Universidad for orientation from 9-4 today. They gave us all the information about classes, textbooks, safety, maps of the campus, Heredia and San José, and a tour of the campus. One very important piece of info they told us: public bathrooms (including at the university) do not have toilet paper-you have to bring your own. For lunch we had salad, rice with meat and veggies, some kind of beans (I tried but I could not eat this), and juice.

The evening has been fairly uneventful. After returning to the house, I took a nap, walked down the block to a small Chinese store with the mom, and then used their computer to check my email.

Apparently there are two temperatures of water here: cold and less cold. Last night my shower was freezing and tonight it was barely tolerable. My showers are as short and I usually try to avoid being in the water as much as possible. I have been using my fleece sweater to wrap my cold feet in when I go to bed.

There are only two seasons here: summer and winter. Summer is only about 4 months long. Currently it is winter which means cooler temperatures and more rain. It is usually in the 70’s during the day and around 60 at night.