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First Snack
Addie, Nicole, Randy, Lisa and Jasmine enjoy their first morning snack at CPI.(Please remember to click on "view full entry" to see all of the pictures!)
The flights were smooth and uneventful, but since our arrival in Costa Rica yesterday, we have been very busy! Here is the play-by-play account of what we have been doing: Sonia, the CPI intern assigned to our group, and Roy, a CPI driver, picked us up at the airport. After a 15-minute ride to San Joaquin, we were greeted at CPI by Mayi, the student coordinator and Cecilia, the academic coordinator. Since most of us had to get up at 3:00 AM or earlier to get to the airport in time for our very early flight, we were a bit tired, but the first order of business was the placement test. It was short, and Cecilia conducted individual interviews in Spanish with each member of our group to get an idea of our speaking abilities. Then Sonia took us on a tour of the school, followed by an orientation session. She told us about everything from recognizing Costa Rican coins and bills, to using taxis and buses in this area, to getting a Costa Rican shower to produce hot water. (I heard that not everyone
Relaxing
Ginger and Justin relax between classes. was particularly successful with that on their first attempt!) After the orientation session, we had to wait quite a while for the host families to arrive, so some took advantage of the hammocks near the front entrance to the school while others relaxed and chatted with Sonia and Mayi. Finally, the host families started to arrive, and one by one, each person was called to the main gate to meet his or her family. Most Costa Rican people are extremely warm and good-natured, so there were plenty of hugs and smiles exchanged already. Experiences varied quite a bit during the first evening. Everyone got plenty to eat, but then some were exhausted and went to bed very early, while a few were taken out by their hosts.
The local sounds start very early here. Roosters crow at around 4:00 AM and a little bit later the voices, cars, and motorcycles begin. Some members of the ASU group slept better than others the first night here. I can say from experience that everyone will get used to the different sounds and schedule after a few days.
The next morning (Monday), everyone made it to the school and was assigned
Comparing Notes
Sarah, Morgan and Sara compare experiences from their first night in Costa Rica. to a group of 2-4 students and a CPI instructor for the first week of classes. The first class session was from 8:00-10:00, and then we had a typical Costa Rican morning snack in the open-air part of the school. There was fresh pineapple and fresh watermelon and a small warm tortilla filled with some type of cheese. There was also coffee, water, and fruit juice. After 20 minutes, the bell rang an everyone returned to class until noon. After classes, we took a very interesting walking tour of the city of Heredia and also had time for a guided walk around San Joaquin so that it will be much easier to find our way around on our own. That little excursion had so many things to offer that it is worth a separate blog entry, so please check back soon or sign up as a subscriber so that you will get e-mail notifications when there are new entries -- it's free! Much more coming soon . . .
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Wanda Thompson
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ASU 2010 Costa Rica 1st update
Thank you so much Dr. O for this first update. I was so happy to see my sweet Sarah as she met her host family. This site is AWESOME. Sarah Jones' nannie.