First Full Day in Costa Rica

Today was my first full day in San Jose, Costa Rica and it was wonderful! Well let me start with yesterday. I had quite a bumpy flight from Atlanta but landed safe and went through customs without a problem. BUT I had to wait outside the airport for 4 hours on the other people in the group! I was hungry, very tired and anxious to meet my host family! We finally got on the bus and were taken to the ISA office where my family picked me up. Their names are Luis and Maru and are very very nice. They have a daughter who is 21 and another daughter in her thirties and a grandchild who is 11 that lives with them. Their families are within blocks so there are people here all the time and it took me a bit to figure out who actually lived here! The house is very nice and they have wireless internet which is a treat! The one thing that is the most different is the fact that you cannot put toilet paper down the toilet....in fact I just made that mistake and panicked and picked it up at a dry corner and put the wet wad in the trash can. Gross I know! The windows and doors are open all the time so the house is very comfortable. There are fruits here that I have never seen nor heard of...and I tried all of them :) They have very different flavors and different shapes but they are good...one is even sour. I told them that my favorite food was sweets and I didn't like vegetables but I would try anything at least once! I even ate a green soup...I think it was made from zucchini and if I didn't think about the color or what was in it, it wasn't half bad! And I even ate a mushroom! I have tried more "gross" foods in the past twenty-four hours than I have in my entire life! Their meals are HUGE and they are always feeding me! They also drink coffee all the time. I have been worried about breakfast for two months now but to my relief they DO NOT eat beans and rice. Thank God! We had cereal, lots of fruit, eggs (which I also tried and did not like), and fresh fruit juice. After breakfast we, my roommate and I, met the rest of the group and went for our orientation at the ISA office. We are going to Tamarindo this Friday through Sunday. It is a beach and we are staying in a five star resort that looks like places Justin and I looked at for our honeymoon! Apparently they get a good rate because there are so many kids. I am super excited about that. The second weekend we go to a volcano and the third a rainforest. Later we went to downtown San Jose and the leaders showed us the main places so we would know where we were and not get lost. There were so many people and so much Spanish! I think it finally hit me that I was the minority....and it didn't help that I only found TWO people in the entire downtown area that were taller than me! I am a freak of nature here! Wait til they see me in heels :) After our tour of San Jose my host parents picked my roommate and I up...it feels like I am five years old again and excited to see my "mom", she is one of only a few familiar faces. They celebrate Father's Day too so some of the extended family was over and we had Pizza Hut pizza, which is not like what we have in the US. After hanging out with them for a while (and trying to catch all of the Spanish I could!) our host parents took us on a car ride to different cities/provinces and we finally stopped at a mall. The mall was huge and very nice. It had three stories and stores like Aeropostale, Tommy Hilfiger, Payless Shoes (they are all over the country for some reason?!) and many other familiar names that I didn't expect to see. I am still trying to get the hang of the colones, their currency, so I have not figured out what is a fair price for items yet. And driving here is absolutely crazy! These people use their horns ALL the time and do not pay attention to the lines on the road. I swear I think I'm going to get in an accident every time I get in the car! It is very different here as far as driving is concerned. It is currently the beginning of rainy season here and it is about 75 degrees in the morning and gets warmer until about 12-1 and then it begins to rain off and on until dark. I guess I will get used to that. On a random note I asked my parents' niece, I think, if she listened to Justin Bieber and she said yes! Even the little boy knows "Baby Baby"! He is so famous that these kids who aren't even fluent in English know his lyrics! I even showed them my motions to "Eenie Meenie"...but they just thought it was funny. I wonder why?! ;)

Well I will try to keep this up every day to keep you all posted...I had a lot to say on this one! Overall I am really enjoying myself and I can't wait until my Spanish improves!