Hi everyone! I am not dead, first of all. I made it fine, and am about to spend my first night in Costa Rica. The airport was an early morning, but Ryan went with me, and once I found the gate, it was no problem. In Atlanta, where my connecting flight was, there are a ton of different concourses, and I had to take a train to get to my gate.
The plane ride was very long. At first, I didn't like looking at the window, because it's kind of scary. I mean, I know it's safer than a car and all that, and I'm really calm during flights, but something about looking down scared me at first. 30 minutes in, and I was so bored and restless that I couldn't keep my head away from the window. The flight total was about 4 hours in the air, Atlanta to Costa Rica. The weather was beautiful until the last, maybe 30-45 minutes. Then we hit a storm, because it rains pretty much every day here (only for an hour or so) during this time of the year. So, that was scary. But, we made it to the ground.
The airport in San Jose is tiny compared to Atlanta. Immigration consisted of standing in a gigantic line, just to have a guy stamp your passport 45 minutes later. I got through customs fine, exchanged money, got my bags fine, and nothing was stolen. I found my driver, and we were off to my host family.
Something you probably didn't know about the driving situation in CR- they are maniacs. A lot of people don't like to use seatbelts, and they drive a lot of old used Korean cars (which Korea sold to CR) that don't even have airbags. My driver was cutting people off, going 85 mph, zooming around motorcycles, almost getting sideswiped. This is not a joke- they are nuts on the road. Horns go off continuously. My driver, apparently, was one of the few that spoke English, and he asked me about North Carolina, and gave me some tips on life in CR, like don't walk at night, don't get cabs- only buses, etc.
Another interesting thing I learned- they do not really use house numbers or addresses here. They have points around the city, and they use those to map out related locations. And, to find a house, instead of saying "I'm 164" they say "Una casa mostaza y blanca"- the house with mustard yellow and white. They go by color, or by how many houses it is away from a certain corner. The address of my school, which I was officially instructed to put on my customs form, is CRLA, 70 metres este de Taco Bell San Pedro. Yep, that Taco Bell. I shit you not. That is the official address here.
My Hosts are very nice. Ericka and Wilbert are their names. Ericka says that I should "Be at your house"- which is essentially "Make yourself at home." Wilbert and I bonded over tattoos, since he has a large dragon arm piece. He also loves cooking, trying exotic food like monkey, snake, alligator, etc. And he LOVES Star Trek. He LOVES it. He has all the movies, all the posters, all the little ship models. I have it on good authority that he has loved Star Trek faithfully since 1969. He's a really cool guy- I just wish I knew more Spanish so we wouldn't have to use English as much. Ericka welcomed me, and gave me the grand tour. She's a petite, thin woman, and kind of dresses like she's on the Jersey Shore. You know what I mean. But She's really nice, and she gave me plantain ceviche for lunch when I was freaking starving from the flight. They are an interesting pair. They have a maid, a poker table, and last night they apparently stayed up til 5am having Wilbert's birthday party.
Almost all of the houses here have high stone walls or metal bars surrounding a courtyard. Some of the walls are even topped by barbed wire. I was surprised to see this, but apparently petty theft and break ins are a problem here. My host house has a stone wall, and it is topped by electric fencing. So essentially, they are well off, and they want to protect their stuff. They own a few businesses- a tanning salon, 3 video stores, an internet cafe (which I am free to go to at no charge as long as I'm here), and a few rental houses- ironic. They host students because it is usually just the two of them, and they get bored. They are currently hosting a girl from Austria in addition to us, but I won't meet her until tomorrow.
My roomate's name is Crystal. We share a room, which has two twin beds, two nightstands, a desk, a tv with cable, and a giant closet. Out of our bedroom window, we have a view of a bit of the ciy and the biggest volcano. (I'll add pics at some point, when I get around to taking them and it isn't dark or rainy, which it was this afternoon.) We also share a large bathroom with Austria girl. This is definitely not the jungle, but it is very different from home. Crystal seems nice, and she is almost as tall as I am. That's a good thing- I won't be the only giant.
Whew! Well, after I got unpacked, I took a shower and a nap, and we had dinner, which was: White rice, then a sauce of onions, vinegar, tomatoes, spices, and something else, then you are supposed to add meat but I did not, then little fried potatoes on top. I wish I had asked them to spell the name of the dish- it was pretty good, and I was starving. Wilbert says he will get me to try turtle eggs, since I eat chicken eggs. So, anyway, now I think I'll go to bed. Tomorrow at 8am, we have to be at the school to start a day of touring the volcanoes and whatnot. I hope all of you are doing good! Don't forget to leave comments- I want to know what's going on!!!!!!!
Oh, and the one thing I forgot to pack? A spanish to english dictionary. (wait for the collective groan- lol) That's okay, though, I'm getting one tomorrow.
Buenas Noches Amigos!
-Mal
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