Arrival

We arrived safely and exhausted in Costa Rica after a few cramped hours on airplanes. Thankfully everything went smoothly for the most part. Only one student, Emily, had a problem after the baggage handler broke the handle clean off of her carry-on luggage thereby inhibiting the handle with which you pull the luggage from retracting. The permanent protruding pole though unfortunate did not overly complicate anyone's travels.

Upon our descent we caught views of cloud coated mountains covered in lush, green vegetation. Color sorely missing from the gray trees and white snow of winter in Michigan. The airport felt a bit like a prison during the half an hour spent gathering luggage and waiting in lines at. We desperately wanted to get outside. The tops of palm trees and peeks of mountains viewed through the high set windows at the airports beckoned us. Finally reaching the outdoors proved to rejuvenate us to some degree. The slight humidity and warm sunlight brought upon a collective sigh of relief.

I don't think we waited outside the airport for more than a few minutes until our program's director Don Jorge arrived with our teal colored bus. A few men seeking tips loaded our group's 27 pieces of luggage on the the bus and we were off. We swiftly headed southward towards Santa Ana, passing through a highly Americanized zone of international industry consisting of familiar names like Citi Bank, Taco Bell, and McDonalds. We stopped off for a quick bite of ice cream before heading to our Don Jorge's home where we were to meet with our host families for the first time. Surprisingly enough no one seemed too nervous and everyone seemed to get along fine with there families right from the get go. Upon our reunion at Don Jorge's house for a tour Santa Ana we discussed our new homes and rooms out on the patio as Don Jorge's parrot constantly interrupted us with frequent squawking and a few "hola's."

We toured the city for a couple of hours visiting the colonial-style cathedral, the library, and the places where we would be attending classes. Needless to say, after a merely a couple hours of sleep the night before the walking tour wiped us all out. Following the termination of the brief tour and a short lecture and some last minute questions for Don Jorge and his wife Ana we headed in for the night. Our first night in Costa Rica may not be the most eventful of nights but we will all get the much some much needed sleep before we trek into the mountains tomorrow, begin classes on Thursday, and make our way to a resort in Puntarenas this weekend.