Costa Rica

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And so the trip begins. I arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica on Tuesday, August 19th. The day started early with an alarm clock at 3:30am so that I could get everything ready for my 7:00 flight. The first flight to Charlotte, NC went really well as I slept for all but the last half hour of it. I then had to catch a flight from Charlotte to San Jose, but before we could board the plane we had to from a huge line to check passports. I thought I would be standing there forever when the lady at the podium called my name over the loud speaker. "Great, what did I do now." Apparently a woman and her children were placed in seperate seats so they asked if I would switch to another seat. Of course I did, and for doing so I got to skip the long line and I was placed in a better seat with more leg room. Ahh karma.

When I arrived in Costa Rica I proceeded through customs, which was a breeze, and then began to look for my host mother. She was nowhere to be found. "Perfect, I am in a foreign country in which I don´t speak the language and I´m all alone." But there were plenty of taxi drivers that were willing to "help." I passed up their offers and decided to wait. Finally I saw a woman holding a sign with my name on it. The taxi ride from San Jose to Tres Rios felt like we were in a NASCAR race as we weaved in and out of traffic. Note: If you are traveling in Costa Rica, pedestrians do not have the right of way. So WATCH out! Emilia, my host mother, and I had a "conversasion" during the car ride but my head was spinning and all I could really say was "si" or "no."

The house that I am staying at is great. It was bigger than I had expected and had a beautiful backyard with orchids and lemon trees. My room is kind of in the backyard, connected, but away from the rest of the house. I have my own bathroom which is great.

So far the food has been great. Emilia prepares a breakfast and a dinner for me each day and we usually have a coffee break with a snack as well.

Today is my second day at Saint Clare, the school that I will be student teaching at, but the students have been busy with Trimester exams. They have a week of exams each trimester but only one or two subjects a day so they have time to prepare for each. The staff is great and are all really helpful in teaching me spanish. Most of them speak english, some more than others.

Well this message seems to be getting a little long-winded so I will finish it up. I hope everyone back home is doing well. I will try to keep you updated as much as possible. Until next time.

Adios,
Nick

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Photos

My Room
This is a view of my room from the outside. You have to go out into the backyard to get to it.

Orchids
Our backyard is full of orchids which are Costa Rica's National flower.

Lemons
We also have lemon trees in our backyard.

Natu!!
This is my host family's dog, Natu.

My View
This is the view from inside my bedroom.

Shower Head
There are no hot water heaters so it is done in the shower head. Its a little tricky to get hot water.