My roommate and I paired up with three other girls (one girl was here last semester so she knew her way around the area and showed us two grocery stores fairly close to my host house). We went to the first one called Pali, and they had a lot of fresh produce/meats and other food items. I'll attach a photo of what Pali looks like on the inside. We also went to another larger grocery store (in my opinion, it seemed like a SAMs club, but cheaper and smaller quantities of items), called Pequeño Mundo. Pequeño Mundo was interesting - they had soda cans that were plastic (the top looked like a normal soda can, but the rest was plastic and the bottom of the can looked like the bottom of a soda bottle) - they were only ¢250 colones (which is 50cents in American dollars). They also had a clothing section and I saw clothes from Forever21 and Hollister being sold there. It was a really interesting place to explore! After that, we were really tired from all the walking we had done (Pali was about 5minutes from the house; Pequeño Mundo was about 10minutes from the house). I came back and took a wonderful nap, and am now planning on relaxing for the rest of the evening because tomorrow we have the university orientation beginning at 8am! I can't wait to see what my host mom will be preparing for dinner tonight!
Today was quite a busy day for me! I had to be up by 8:30am for breakfast, but ended up waking up from the sunlight coming into my window around 6:45am. It was a really relaxing feeling; waking up naturally instead of by an alarm. And I felt well-rested when I woke up too! I could get used to that! But anyways, we had the program orientation and then we had a city tour. We toured downtown San Jose and saw some places like the Social Security office, Mercado Central (like their big indoor fresh market/flea market), the Gran Hotel Costa Rica (which I believe was the first hotel in Costa Rica), and other places. There were flower shops, shoe stores, clothes stores, drugstores, everything you could imagine. Definitely a place I would want to explore on the weekends and buy things from the little shops. There was also this big open area where people and children went to feed pigeons - there must have been thousands of pigeons there! After the city tour, I was exhausted. We also had our first experience on a public bus and it was interesting - the driver was probably going about 40-50mph down these little side streets! After the bus ride back to the university, the program directors basically just left us and let us find our way around. We weren't far from the university, though.
My roommate and I paired up with three other girls (one girl was here last semester so she knew her way around the area and showed us two grocery stores fairly close to my host house). We went to the first one called Pali, and they had a lot of fresh produce/meats and other food items. I'll attach a photo of what Pali looks like on the inside. We also went to another larger grocery store (in my opinion, it seemed like a SAMs club, but cheaper and smaller quantities of items), called Pequeño Mundo. Pequeño Mundo was interesting - they had soda cans that were plastic (the top looked like a normal soda can, but the rest was plastic and the bottom of the can looked like the bottom of a soda bottle) - they were only ¢250 colones (which is 50cents in American dollars). They also had a clothing section and I saw clothes from Forever21 and Hollister being sold there. It was a really interesting place to explore! After that, we were really tired from all the walking we had done (Pali was about 5minutes from the house; Pequeño Mundo was about 10minutes from the house). I came back and took a wonderful nap, and am now planning on relaxing for the rest of the evening because tomorrow we have the university orientation beginning at 8am! I can't wait to see what my host mom will be preparing for dinner tonight!
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Today was the day. The day for me to start this new journey, this new experience. Leaving was hard this morning, and it hit me when the plane was taking off. All these emotions - nervousness, excitement, anxiousness - it was all new to me all at once and I didn't know how to respond. The flight was long and I slept uncomfortably, but landing was a beautiful sight. I can't even explain it and photos don't do justice. There were mountains that poked through the clouds and everything was so lush and so green. It was beautiful! I'll attach a picture to this post, but the photo doesn't do any justice. Once I landed, I was nervous to go through customs alone, but made it through. Had to wait 2.5 hours for other students to arrive, and met some people within my program during the process. Met three girls (from Kentucky, South Dakota, and Texas) who share common interests with me and don't really care to go out and party/drink (I was afraid that I wouldn't meet too many people like that so I'm thankful to have met them). After that, we were dropped off at the university, and our host families met us there. My roommate (another American student from Washington) and my host mom met me there. One great advantage is that the host house is literally a two minute walk to the campus! It was wonderful. My host mom is very nice and she is very patient and we carried on a good conversation in Spanish, which was nice because I could communicate with her and understood majority of what she said. We had dinner (tortillas con queso, homemade guacamole and salsa, and a fresh garden salad) and then I took my first cold shower - that is DEFINITELY something I'm going to have to get used to. Not sure if that will be an everyday thing or what. I've got a busy day of orientations tomorrow so I should probably get some sleep - we are an hour behind the Eastern time zone - so it is currently 9:27pm and back home it's 10:27pm. I have to be up at 8:30am.
I would be lying if I didn't say that this new experience today has messed with my emotions today. I've laughed, cried, and worried more in one day than ever before. But it's going to be okay! I know it is just the shock of everything at once and I know everything will work itself out and in a few days, I will be quickly getting used to this new place. I already was able to communicate with my host mom in mostly Spanish - something I didn't think I would be good at. Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for me! It's 1:21am and my flight leaves Atlanta in 8 hours. I can't seem to go to sleep. Saying goodbye is such a hard thing to do :-( but I have to remind myself that it's not really a goodbye, it's a "see you later!". Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited for the trip and my opportunities that await me. It's just saying goodbye to people you love & embarking on a completely new experience is really rough the first time around. I'm strong though and I have God to reassure me and I know He will take care of me and take care of the ones I love. This will be a great experience for me, I know it! I guarantee that before I know it, January will have flown by. I got my itinerary for the program today and I start classes on Monday and my first excursion is next weekend! And we have excursions every weekend in January. I know that once I get there and settled, everything will go by so quickly. I just need to take full advantage of everything & enjoy it all! Oh yeah, happy 22nd birthday to me. It still doesn't feel like my birthday! As I bring in the new year with my family and boyfriend, it really hits me for the first time that I'm about to leave for three months. The thought leaves me a little anxious, I won't lie. On the flip side, I know there is a world of new experiences and opportunities in Costa Rica and I tell myself that this will be okay. This is a huge step for me and a change in my normal lifestyle, but it's going to be worth every second and I absolutely cannot wait to see what I take home from this trip. I talked with my brother Aaron a little bit tonight (he's in New York visiting friends and I won't be able to see him before I leave - he left to go there on Christmas Day) and this past summer he spent a month in the Philippines and Singapore with relatives and friends. He gave me some really good advice that reassured me in preparing myself for this trip. He told me to take lots of photos and just to take advantage of the experiences and opportunities, because it will go by quickly. I know this trip will fly by, so I'm ready to make the most of it. I'm going to fully immerse myself and not take anything for granted. Oh, and I keep forgetting that my 22nd birthday is the same day that I depart for Costa Rica. HAPPY NEW YEAR! |
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