We arrived in San Jose Costa Rica 5 days ago on Sunday the 2nd. We were picked up at the airport by Arcos (our 3rd party planner) in a bus where we were then taken straight to our homestays that we would be spending the next 2 weeks with. I was put in a homestay alone and being that I speak very, very limited Spanish and I was being dropped off with a family that knows even less English than I knew Spanish, I was definitely a little nervous in the beginning. Our host moms greeted us at the bus and I could tell that all of the host moms, including mine, were very caring and good people which helped settle my worries a little even though I had a lot of trouble communicating. The first night was even more of a culture shock than I had originally expected but throughout the next couple of days (and purchasing a box fan) I have begun to get much more comfortable in my homestay. I live with a grandmother, her two boys, one of their wives, her little girl Echylin, and their dog Negrito. They are all very nice and welcoming as is the rest of the people I have met in this country. It is now day 5 and although there is indeed still a great language barrier we have learned each other’s limits of our different languages and have figured out how to use Google Translate pretty well.
I had very high expectations for Costa Rica’s beauty and it has even surpassed my expectations. Some of the activities we have done so far are a Latin dance class, fruit/market tour, swam in La Fortuna waterfall, a zipline tour, and a forest tour. All of the excursions and lectures have been fun and very educational. Katy, Don, and Faith have all been very helpful and understanding and have planned a great trip that I am grateful to be a part of. We were warned ahead of time that this was their first time planning a trip to Costa Rica and that there would be some kinks in the system. Pura Vida!