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Published: June 23rd 2009
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Getting on bus from airport
this is us getting on the bus from the airport in san jose Days 1-3
On Saturday morning i arrived to the airport at about 5:30, i was one of the earliest ones there besides my teacher and 3 other people. Everything started smooth even though i really had no clue what to do. It seems as if everyone who works at LAX absolutely hates their job, because everyone is so rude. So after waiting with some people in the group to get our passports checked(the first of about 10 passport checkpoints in the same airport!) Guess which famous celebrity is right behind us the whole time, Pamela Anderson! many people in line were taking papparrazzi pictures but no one really caused a scene.
So after getting off of the 5 hours flight from LAX to EL Salvador, we had a layover of about 20 mins(but we were told 40 mins). and then the scariest thing happened to me at the airport upon boarding to San Jose, Costa Rica. So as we were being called for final boarding i noticed Brett still hasnt came back from wandering the airport, so i quickly scanned the perimeter looking for him so he wont miss the flight, i finally found him and when i did we were
hotel
here is a side view of our hotel running to show our boarding passes. THEN......as we were running someone grabs me so we both stop he shows me something that a "resembles" a badge and "claims" to be a police officer. no uniform, no nothing, just a "badge" he starts asking me questions in spanish, tells me to show him my passport and makes Brett( the guy i was looking for) leave. then i started getting scared. i show him my passport and he looks through it and asks me all these questions.At this time i was getting very nervous because 1. i thought he was going to run off with it and 2. i knew it was too fishy because, well first there was no reason for me to get stopped and second he made the other guy leave. i then began panicking inside because after playing 21 questions(very personel questions btw) he told me my passport was fake and needed to "take" it and verify if its real. Or he said i can pay him money and he would let me leave. Scared to death i did the only thing i could, give him all my money. jusk kidding! well seeing i was short on time
roommates
Johnny and Allen, my roommates for the night and scared i might miss my flight, i quickly grabbed the passport out of his hand and ran as fast as i could, of course not being a real "cop" he didnt chase me. anyway i made it to costa rica fine without a scratch on my body or money "stolen". In other words, (Phillip)=1 (Fake cops who want your money)= 0.
So we arrived at costa rica around 3, got our luggage exchanged money. oh btw 1 dollar is equal to 530 colones(their currency) so when you exchange money you really feel like millionaires. haha. well we walked outside and hot was not even the word to describe the weather. we then arrived at our hotel where we stayed for the first night, unpacked, went to dinner and just hungout with everyone till about1-2 in the morning. SUnday morning i was the first to wake upin my at about 745 so i took a shower and the showers at the hotel dont have warm water!! so i was freeeezzzingg and took the quickest shower of my life! so 930 comes and were off on our way to Monteverde where we will be staying for the 1st week. the drive
eating at a restaurant
first dinner in costa rica was about a 4hr drive but on the way, we stopped for lunch at a "soda" which is basically a diner. i ordered arroz con pollo which was really good for 1200 colones, about 2$ in the US.
at around one, we arrived at CPI whhich is the school we well be learning at and the school is really nice! it has a jacuzzi, a gym(very minimAL though) a hangout lounge and some other stuff. we took our placement tests then toured the campus and at around 4 our homestay families came to pick us up. when we saw them most of us including me, said this was probably the most neervous we have ever felt. SO they were calling our names to release us and then mine was called, i was soooo nervous, but then i met Miguel, my host dad and he was verrryyy nice, we walked to the house probably a 3 minute walk from the school and i met his wife and four kids. Micheal 23, Kaitlin 20, Alondra 9, and Nazareth,7. everyone was so nice to me and i felt like a king getting served food and drinks on the spot. one thing about Ticos(costa
our house
our house ricans) is that they are all verryy polite and nice, everytime im walking somewhere a local would say "pura Vida" which basically mean hello how are i hope great. i met everyones families and everyone only has positive things to say about them.
so yesterday was my 1st day of class and each class at cpi is limited to 4 students, my teacher is really nice. after school we went downtown to a town called Santa Elena where we had lunch and once again the food was grrreat! we then went to see frogs and most of us hungout in my room after. oh did i mention it rains every freakin day! im short on time and the internet connection here is hard to find and very slow, i have lots of pictures and will upload them asa i can. well its already 645 am and i have school at 8. Hasta luego, que tenga un buen dia!
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