Blogs from San José, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 13

I'm here in San Jose! Finally, after quite the day of travel. My spanish needs work and I need to get used to the currency. Also, I really need some sleep. After finally getting on the plane, I had a hard time handling the first flight, I thought I might be having a panic attack, but I settled down pretty quick, I guess flying just does that to me sometimes. Didn't really sleep until my layover and I passed out by the payphones until some guy started yelling to somebody on the phone about Dubai and how long it had taken him to get from there to Bagdad and to Atlanta. Arrival in Costa Rica was simple, checked my passport in no time...after waiting in line for a while. Got my bag, got my bags scanned ... read more

On top of the adventures we've been having on the weekends, our program director, Rebeca, has been organizing mini-excursions for us during the week. Our first outing was to the movies. I'll be honest, "Avatar" isn't the kind of movie I usually go to see but I'd been told over and over again that it was a cinematic experience that was not to be missed. So in early January I caught up with the rest of the world and everyone who went to see "Avatar" over Christmas break. The version I saw had Spanish subtitles but I got to wear the 3D glasses just like everyone else so I don't think I missed anything. It wasn´t hard to follow because the actors were speaking English for the majority of the movie, but those of you who've ... read more

I feel I owe you all an explanation. I know it's been quite a while since my last entry, perhaps you are wondering why you haven´t heard from me. The reason I have not been updating my blog is because I was enrolled in: INTERMADIO DOS. I´ve decided to dedicate the following entry to my academic pursuits here in Costa Rica so that you will understand that I was not intentionally neglecting my faithful blog readers :) La Universidad de Veritas really is an impressive institution. My classes here have been much more challenging than I expected. Our days are broken into two parts, in the mornings from 8-12 the school offers intensive Spanish classes and in the afternoon we have our electives. On our first day we each took a placement test to detemine our ... read more

Pretty entertaining wake up this morning. We were headed for San Jose on the 6:30am bus so I had set my alarm for 5:45am to get up and run up the road to the bus. I woke up to the alarm but the other guys didn't. As I was groggily finding my bearings, Matt's alarm went off. Now there are only four of us in the room in each corner. Justin and Morris  have no alarm, mine is in my hands, And that leaves Matt. So the alarm is going off in Matt's corner for awhile when I finally tell him to turn it off. His response was "it's not mine" ... Even after I explain mine is in my hands he is still convinced he shut his off last night. Finally he sits up and ... read more

Another day in San Jose! We went over to San Pedro for orientation today, lasted until about 3 pm. We had lunch outside picnic style and then headed back to the hotel after getting Visa stuff worked out. Sometimes I forget that I'm not just in South LA until I see a street sign in Spanish or a tropical tree in a park. After returning to the hotel we sat in the hot tub for an hour, worked on my research proposal, and chilled. Dinner at 6...rice, beans, and veggies :) . I'm really having a great time here, the people are wonderful! Looking forward to Las Cruces tomorrow, just a 7 hour bus ride away!... read more

Hola Costa Rica! I have arrived in Costa Rica after a 5 hour red-eye to arrive at 6:30 am. Not gonna lie, I'm a little out of it. Today has been lovely though, met a few people on my plane and a few others a little later. We walked to the park, sat by the pool for two hours, went to eat at Soda Tapia, and then back to the park. Costa Rica really is beautiful! We are all biology nerds too, which makes it that much more exciting. Looking forward to orientation tomorrow, should be intense if nothing else. Peace.... read more

Well, we made it! Showed the land-lady how to take care of Suki (my kitten) before we left, then it was off in a taxi to the airport. Check-in was fine, although flight was full, as many flights were cancelled early in the day due to bad thunderstorms in Tegus this morning. After a bit of a scare, we were through and boarding. They forgot to give Walter his immigration paper back at check-in and they wouldn't let us through to board so we had to go back and get the green paper from the check-in desk. Flight was also delayed and we feared missing our connection in El Salvador, but they held that flight, as many people were delayed. My backpack was the only bag we checked, as it contained liquids, but once in San ... read more

Nov 30, 2009 The bus to Costa Rica left a little before midnight, so we were both able to sleep some before we arrived to the border around 5:15AM. Unfortunately, Customs didn’t open until 6:00AM, so 50 groggy bus riders stood in line waiting. Ironically we waited longer for an exit stamp from Panama than an entry stamp to Costa Rica (same for all Central American border crossings based on our short experience). After about two hours of waiting, we were able to continue on to San Jose. A few hours before San Jose, the road started twisting and turning, going up and down jungle mountains - very pretty. In the early afternoon, we finally arrived to San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica. It certainly wasn’t as aesthetically pleasing as the Miami-like Panama City, ... read more