Estamos aqui!!!

Wow! We are here! Alive and in Puntarenas!

I personally thought the flights were a little on the turbulent side, but Kristin helped me through it and we both got some good airport floor sleep. I knew it would be a good day yesterday when my taxista was Dominican and we spoke Spanish on the way to the airport. Awesome!

So we got into Costa Rica a little later than expected because we had to switch planes before flight 2, but that wasn´t a big deal. We took a shuttle to Hostel Pangea which was really cool, and pretty much just ate and crashed immediately.

This morning feels like years ago- we got up around 8:30 after sleeping like rocks and got some amazing breakfast. We could see the mountains of San Jose and it was so beautiful. Little did we know how treacherous they are to drive down...

Which brings me to my next point, we crashed! It was an extremely slow and minor accident, no one was hurt or anything, but another bus hit us around a teeny tiny corner of the mountainside ¨Mont Aguacate (Mount Avocado)¨and it was scary but also kind of funny since it was such a small thing. Kristin and I saw it coming since we were going like 5mph and we just kind of stared at it with wide eyes and our mouths gaping open haha. I think we stayed that way for about 5 minutes afterwards, too. We sat there for about an hour or 2 until the police came and determined who was at fault, then we made a pit stop for insurance purposes. The only damage was a shattered tiny window in the top corner of the bus. Still though, I´ve never been in an accident before, so that was an adventure! Poor Kristin had her 2nd one within a week. I am a little nervous to go out and about in giant buses anymore, though. I know I don´t really have a choice, so hopefully those kind of things are rare!

It was a lot to take in, just scenery-wise- it is so beautiful to drive down these huge valleys. I tried to take some pictures, but I had to look away from the window because the drop was so scary, so I don´t know how they came out, haha. As soon as I can, I will share some photos, but I don´t think they will do it any justice.

The kids behind me are all playing World of Warcraft together. Just a fun fact.

Anyways, everything here is amazing! It is hot and breezy, and the beach is very close but we can´t see it because it´s dark. Tomorrow! This is a totally different world. I thought I knew a decent amount about the country since I had been here before, but it is a totally different experience than the Rastafarian east coast. Spanish comes first here. I am having a lot of trouble understanding and speaking to my host mom, but between Jennifer and I, it´s getting a little bit easier! I think by the end of the semester I´ll look back and hopefully be excited by how much my language skills have improved. Everything happened really quickly as soon as we got off the bus, but I saw Kristin with her family for a second and they look like sweethearts!!! My host mom is very sweet, too! My room is simple and cute, and the house is very interesting! I hope I can upload some photos soon.

I am once again totally exhausted, so I am gonna go shower and hopefully get some sleep! The culture shock is absolutely ridiculous. I feel like my brain isn´t even working, but I don´t even really mind.

Buenas noches!

Kate