Día 1 - lunes, el 9 de enero

It has been a long day with very little sleep!  We loaded vehicles and left at 11:30 pm last night, and arrived at the airport at Minneapolis at about 3:00 am.

Our first flight (from Minneapolis to Houston) was right on time but it had turbulence basically the entire flight because of some thunderstorms we were flying over.  Then, our flight from Houston to San José boarded right on time, but because of the torrential storms (there were tornado warnings in the area and at one point Houston received 2 inches of rain in 10 minutes) they weren't letting any flights take off.  So, we got to sit on the tarmac for 2 hours.  This would have been pretty boring except for the fact that I was sitting by this really nice guy named Enrique.  Enrique is from Costa Rica but has been living and working in Ohio for 9 years.  It was interesting to get his perspective on his country as well as our country.  I can tell that Costa Ricans ("Ticos") really are very friendly and open, just like we had read that they are!

For a long time during our 2nd flight I looked out the window and could see nothing but the Gulf of Mexico and/or the Caribbean, but finally I looked out and could see Central America!  Calm waters, long shore lines with beaches, and then these lush, green mountains.  That was a great first impression of the land of Central America.

Once we landed, everything went very smoothly!  We got through immigration smoothly, baggage claim, exchanging money and Customs were all a breeze.  Then when we got outside we spotted our tour guide, Jimmy, right away.  He seems great!


He speaks Spanish very clearly and has 20 years of guiding experience, so he's used to speaking at a rate that students will understand.  Plus, he's fully bilingual, so he'll speak English part of the time for Bernie and Dudley, too.  He seems like a very knowledgeable, high-energy person.  I'm excited for him to be our tour guide!

We loaded our bus and came straight to our hotel, the "Country Inn & Suites" San José, which is really nice.  The rooms are great!  Bernie's & my room is basically a suite with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an office.  One of the student rooms even has stairs to a loft area!

Then we walked a few blocks to an area that has restaurants and a shopping mall.  We ate a great supper at "RostiPollo's" and then got dessert (either ice cream or smoothies) at the shopping mall next door.  Then we walked back to our hotel and now we're all getting ready to crash because we're so tired!

My first impressions of Costa Rica have been good--friendly people, pretty modern (so far) and beautiful weather!  It's in the 70's, sunny and slightly humid. 

I'm excited for tomorrow.  We're going hiking through the rain forest (Braulio Carilio National Park) and then will move on to start our family stay.  It'll be another big day!