Finally here!

My first post from Costa Rica! I can't believe that I'm finally here. EVERYTHING has been so much better than I expected it to be: the scenery, the people, and especially the food.

It has been such a long day. I got to the airport at 8:15 this morning, met up with the 17 other students and my professor, and our plane took off right around 10:15. The flight only took about 3 hours so it wasn't bad at all... but once we got to Costa Rica, we had to load all of our stuff, as well as ourselves, onto one bus. Now this wasn't a charter bus or even a school bus like you would imagine. This bus had the bare minimum to it, and all of our luggage was stuffed inside and on top of it. The busride took a little less than 4 hours going through steep, narrow roads through the mountains and hills. Costa Rican drivers are crazy! I probably could have stuck my arm out the window of our bus and touched the cars driving past us in the other direction. For the entire busride, I couldn't help but look out the window the entire time at the amazing landscape. Everything is so green and there are hills, mountains, rivers, and trees everywhere!

One thing that I wasn't completely expecting was how differently people live here. I knew that I wouldn't be seeing houses like I'm used to in the suburbs of Houston, but the houses that families live in here are so small and are basically shacks to our standards. Most of them are just a little larger than my living room back home, and everything is so open. All of the doors of houses and stores are open so it's like you are always outside... it's pretty cool. Another thing that surprised me was how many people were walking to get from place to place. Yes they have cars, but most of the people we drove past were walking to wherever they were going. It's totally different than the way I grew up. Everyone seemed like they were very close to each other because they were either working together or they were just sitting on couches talking. And they don't waste all their time watching tv! Shocker, I know.

The Soltis Center is unbelievable! It is gorgeous here, and again, everything is wide open. We are staying in bungaloes and I'm in a room with 2 other guys, Trey and Gilbert. Our rooms are so much nicer than anything I was expecting. Everyone's favorite part has been the showers... they are huge! As a group, we've already encountered our first "adventures" of the trip. We found a frog outside that is bigger than the size of my hand, and in one of the girls' rooms there was a lizard just hanging out on their wall. I can't wait to see what else Costa has in store for us!

I can't believe it is only 9 o'clock... we are all in our rooms laying in bed because everyone is so wiped out from all the traveling today. I didn't think it was possible, but after being here for just a few hours, I am even more exicted for the rest of this trip than I was before. Everything has been an adventure so far (it's going to take a while to get used to the Spanish speaking and the different currency) and I know that there is going to be so many more exciting things to happen. I couldn't be happier right now :)