I Have Arrived!

I have arrived in the beautiful country of Costa Rica! As soon as I landed I immediately got my passport stamped, rushed to gather my luggage and pass through customs, and then ran to the front of the airport to find the MLSA (Modern Languages Study Abroad aka the company that I have scheduled everything through) representative and a bunch of eager, tired, and overwhelmed American students ready to meet their host families. Well, after riding a bus through the "streets" of Costa Rica, gathering that the people of CR really like McDonald's, and that people drive like maniacs here, we were finally united with our host families! Mine is awesome! My Costa Rican mama is named Hannia and she has three kids (2 girls and 1 boy). One of the girls is grown and no longer lives at home. Her son is 16 and is such a gentleman... carried all my bags for me and everything (He's a keeper Costa Rican ladies)! Her youngest daughter is 12 and that sweetheart never stops smiling. She is just precious! My Spanish speaking skills are good. However, no one in my host family speaks English. The brother speaks a little, but of course he prefers Spanish. My roommate is fantastic. She is happily married and we are already sticking together like glue throughout this Costa Rica experience. However, my Spanish seems to possibly be a little more advanced. She may shock us all and may be hiding some mad Spanish speaking skills. Either way, I'm sticking with her. At least she can offer moral support during my comeback from a three month dry spell of speaking Spanish. Anyway, our casa is small but very quaint. Their "hot" water is not quite hot. In fact it's pretty cold. I am going to pretend that I am happy about having to take cold showers for a month. Do what the local people do right? Yea. I'll keep telling myself that. Anyway, I am about to go eat dinner with my host family. Whatever it is it smells good! In the meantime enjoy the picture from our balcony overlooking the city of San Jose! You will see one of three mountains that surround the city!