Okay, so I got on the plane and flew to Costa Rica. We easily got through customs and everything else and I talked with 2 Ticos on board! It was so neat! We spoke the whole time and they were adorable. They told me about their 5 dogs and their house in Limon and all about how they met and everything. It was bien lindo.

Then we had some snacks (thank the Lord) and it was wonderful. We went to bed which was nice cause I was pretty darn exhausted and then woke up this morning for breakfast and orientation. For breakfast, we had ridiculously good eggs, black beans, gallo pinto (rice mixture), bread, and fresh fruit. It’s funny because I’ve noticed that most of the meals are mostly beans and rice with maybe a little tiny bit of veggies or fruits. Totally opposite from the U.S. I have a feeling it’s going to be difficult journaling in English and speaking and doing everything else in Spanish. I may revert to Spanglish.

Anyways, after the yummy breakfast, we had orientation all day where we learned about transportation, good manners, how to stay safe, etc. It was good to have all that orientation. Then we got to learn a little about our family and their rules and everything which was nice. I have a 10pm curfew, but mi mama goes to sleep at 7pm each night so she can wake up at 4:30am!! Craziness – but she goes walking each morning which I think must be just lovely. Anyways, we did more orientation and then we finally met our families – I was so nervous for them to like me! They are somewhat strict, but the sweetest people ever!

The language isn’t a horrible barrier; I just have to ask them to repeat things a lot, but I get the general gist of everything which is nice. It must have difficult for the families who’s kid doesn’t speak very well. Also, my family is very helpful – they speak very slow so that I can understand them which is just so sweet.

There are a lot of them! It’s really neat. There’s the mama (Sonia, but I call her mama) and the papa (Eliseo) and then 3 hijos (kids): Byron 35, Elisa 32, and the last one, Kalia 22. Byron & Elisa are married – Elisa lives across the street with her husband and daughter, who’s 4. They are very sweet and I really like them. I’m trying very hard to make a good impression on them. It’s hard, though, because the best description I’ve heard about culture is that if you were to ask a goldfish, “how’s the water?”, he’d say “What water?” We don’t realize what our cultures are because we have nothing to compare them to. This will definitely be interesting.

A few things I’ve noticed already are that they always wear shoes in the house, they have rice and beans at every meal, they compliment all the time and you’re expected to do the same, they’re ridiculously clean all the time, and they say no the first few times you offer to do something because they’re trying to be polite, but you just have to keep asking to help. It’s very interesting. And they’re so open. Such adorable people.

Anyways, they picked me up and we came to their house. I’m sharing a room with the daughter and their house is very nice. Nothing like I was expecting at all. The dad is a taxi driver and the mom is a housewife. They live in Costa Rica, but they’re all actually Nicaraguense. (Like my friend Yalittza!) I’ll have to email her and let her know that they said they’d love for her to come visit toward the end of the semester. Oh, they also said no dancing and no discotec (club) which I thought was interesting. It won’t be too hard, I don’t think. Oh, and they wash their underwear everyday no matter what. And also, they take a shower in the morning only. They also have this plug thing that you hook up to have hot water for the shower. It’s pretty interesting.

All in all, I’m really excited. I’m all unpacked and off to a good start. I get my own bed and I can use my computer anytime which will be so nice – what a blessing from the Lord! Going to sleep now…