Just Gettin' There

I'm finally here, in San Jose, Costa Rica. It still feels surreal. Because today has been so exhausting with just getting here, I haven't really had time to explore, but so far, everything is great. However, the humidity will take some getting used to. Instead of cracked skin, changing leaves, and snowfall that I usually experience in Colorado, I'll be handling rain, frizz, mugginess, and a ton of sun. It's going to be a change for sure.

I started my journey at my house in Greeley, where I paid $40 for a shuttle to take me to Denver International Airport. When I arrived at the airport, I went straight to check in and to check my suitcase at the American Airlines kiosks. It would have been pretty funny to watch this process, as I couldn't figure out how to put the checked baggage tag on my suitcase. Don't you wish you would have been there? The security lines were long at the time, so I meandered on over to the restaurants to grab some dinner. It was 7:30pm, and my flight wasn't departing until almost midnight, so I needed a way to kill some time. I eventually went through security and relaxed for a couple more hours by pulling out my laptop to watch Scandal. I boarded the plane around 11:30pm and made my way to Miami.

I came across a person from DU who lived on my floor freshman year while waiting to board the flight for my program. I then ended up meeting two other people, one from DU and one from CU Denver, on the same flight heading to the same program. We ended up sticking together for the rest of the journey.

We landed in Miami around 5-something in the morning their time. We had a 4ish hour layover, and decided to relax, eat breakfast, and nap. Too bad they only had wi-fi for purchase. I was quite disappointed that I couldn't continue my Netflix binge.

After a minor mechanical problem, we finally departed Miami around 10am their time, and landed in San Jose, Costa Rica around 10:45am. I had no idea how to fill out the immigration and customs forms on the plane, but it didn't seem to matter how accurate they were. I still got my passport stamped with a 90-day travel visa. We waited for a couple hours until we could depart with the rest of the ISA students. Then, we were onward to our homestays.

I think I will be really happy at my homestay. I am staying with two other ISA students in a house with a lovely couple and their two sons. The host mom is amazing, and took it easy on us today, speaking English so we could get used to the new feel. And, her food is good. For dinner, we ate salad and spaghetti with an iced tea that was very delicious. The host father helps us by speaking mainly in Spanish, as does the eldest son. He's around 7 and is so knowledgeable about his country and all the things that we should do while we're here. The younger son is 5 and absolutely obsessed with trains. We spent a couple of  hours with him watching videos of lego trains crashing into each other. He was beyond excited every time they crashed into each other. They also have three lovable dogs, which makes me miss my cats a ton. The best part, however, is that we don't live completely in the house with them, but in a separate above-garage loft-type apartment that is connected to their house, giving us a lot of privacy.

Tomorrow, we have an early start with breakfast with our host family, our bridging borders orientation, and a tour of the capital city. My roommates and I are also hoping to stop by the market tomorrow to pick up some snacks and foods for lunches.