my first week

What a whirlwind! This has been the busiest week! After a few days at the fancy hotel, I moved into my apartment and have been settling in and exploring my new city! Here is a peek at my day to day life so far! 

the apartment: 

I live in Apartemtos de Llorente and it is pretty nice. I am centrally located, near friends, grocery stores, bars and restaurants. Most everything is within a 10 minute walk, but you have to be careful walking here... especially after dark. I have my own bedroom and bathroom and share this apartment with my roommate, Elle, who I have not met yet! She will arrive in a few days! It is pretty spacious, so I am sure it will be great!

my room

transportation: 

Since it is difficult to walk, I have been using a lot of buses and taxis to get around. So, I already have a language barrier and they don't use addresses here... so getting around by taxi, while convenient, can be difficult. So, when I go to my friends nearby I say, Salon La Pista, una mas cuadra, then I tell them a la derecha and izquierda and then point to their house. HA! So I tell them to go to a bar, then one block more, then turn right and then left. It is weird. Getting home is easier because I live near a University, so I can just tell them to take me there. 

I have also used the buses a few times to get to San Jose. It is pretty cheap, about 50 cents, to get downtown and there is a bus station right by my apartment, so I may end up taking the bus around once I learn exactly what bus I need to take to get around! 

walking: 

Thankfully during the day it is safe to walk around, so I have been walking around with friends learning my way around. Yesterday I walked by myself a bit and wow, it sure is interesting! The Ticos are not shy, so they whistle and yell out the window at the ladies on the street. I guess they mean it as a compliment. It is pretty different, especially since this climate makes my hair look horrible and I am breaking out like a teenager! I can't possible look beautiful! But when they yell lindo or maybe it's linda out the window, I think that's what it means! HAHA! When I come home and no one yells you're beautiful out their car window my ego will be squashed! 

Today I decided to walk to the grocery store nearby. As I was leaving it started to sprinkle and within minutes it was pouring!! I decided to continue on, it actually felt kind of nice and I had a rain jacket on. Needless to say, I was soaked within minutes but at that point I wasn't far from the market! I did my shopping planning to get a taxi on the way home... it turns out getting a taxi while it is raining is much more difficult! So I walked home, good thing my groceries were all covered in plastic bags and stayed pretty dry!!

friends: 

So far, I have been hanging with the gringos! The other teachers at the school are all so great! It is so nice to have a community of people to spend time with right off the bat. I have spent most of my time with Ruth and Sean, who happen to be Michganders, I always manage to find them! They have been great though, so thanks for taking me in Ruth and Sean! I appreciate it! They have helped me learn my way around and always invite me to explore and grab a meal with them, so it is super nice! 

The rest of the group is great as well! We all went on a school field trip to La Paz and got to see some of the wildlife and beauty of Costa Rica together. 

I guess that is it for this week! We start work tomorrow, so I am sure I will have plenty more to add soon! 

i made it!

I can't believe the time has finally come. I am sitting in my hotel room (Hotel Bougainvillea) in Heredia, Costa Rica! I arrived this morning at about 5am. The last 24 hours were stressful and emotional, but all a part of the decision to come to Costa Rica.

Yesterday, I finished up in my house with the help of great friends, Lori and Sarah, had pizza and beer with more friends, enter Cari and Lisa, spent time with my dog, Bentley (saying goodbye to him was the hardest!), and headed to the airport... completely full of nerves! I had six bags/boxes to check... yes six, I am moving for 2 years!!! Each box or bag needed to be under 50 pounds and boy was I close! Most of the items were exactly 50 pounds and one was 51 pounds! Luckily it was a suitcase and I was able to quickly grab my nude pumps and pack them into my carry on, bringing me down to 50 pounds! Phew! Once all of my bags were checked, I was able to take a huge sigh of relief... but the stress wasn't over yet!

The 5 hour flight was easy, of course I couldn't sleep a wink, but I certainly tried. We arrived at 5 am and it did not take long to get through immigration and on to baggage claim (the most dreaded part of this adventure was how I was going to manage 6 massive checked items in San Jose!!) Luckily, in true Tico form, the airport was full of people ready to help! A nice man loaded up all of my items and wheeled my huge cart right to customs where another man took over and loaded up all my items onto the conveyor belt Before I knew it they were all loaded up on the cart and we were off to find my taxi! Customs with 6 checked bags and 2 carry on... CHECK!

The man driving me to the hotel was waiting with a sign with my name on it, so it wasn't long before I was on my way to the hotel! The nice man talked to me all about Costa Rica on the way to the hotel and even pulled over to show me where coffee was being grown and gave me an explanation of how it all works (in English!). In about 20 minutes, I was at my hotel getting all checked in to my "Mountain View with a balcony- King sized bed" hotel room. Not too shabby!

After checking in I took a nice nap for a few hours and then headed down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. My first meal was a typical Costa Rican breakfast: eggs, rice and beans (gallo pinto!) fresh fruit, fried plantains, orange juice and coffee! IT WAS SO GOOD! I had forgotten just how amazing the food is here... I think I could have eaten an entire pineapple!

 

After stuffing my face I thought it would be a good idea to put on my bikini and find the pool! Even though it was probably around 75-80 degrees, I was the only one there. So peaceful. Next I headed in for a massage, which was just what I needed after the stress of the past month or so. Who can pass up a massage from a tico? :) 

My afternoon was filled with a visit to a host family (Reiner & Lily) I reconnected with before coming down. Reiner invited me over for a visit (or at least I think he did, it was all in Spanish). I had the hotel help me with getting a taxi because directions are difficult here. Thankfully, ticos are amazing and very friendly and the taxi driver called Lily at the house for directions!! Nothing like my previous experience of getting kicked out of a cab in Denver for living too far away! Anyway, I arrived at Lily's house and she welcomed me in with open arms! I spent the evening trying to understand and speak Spanish while spending time with Lily and her family. There were also 2 students from the states staying there as well. Lily was able to help me with a cab ride home. Her nephew drives a taxi so it was nice to get a safe and trustworthy ride home on my first night in Costa Rica. I even scored his digits for future rides! He said he will go anywhere... may be hiring him for a beach vacation soon! 

Needless to say, this has been a fantastic day. The food was fabulous, the people are wonderful and laying in my king-sized bed writing this isn't so bad either... if you made it this far, thanks for reading :) 

buenas noches