Today was such a long crazy day. I guess technically it has been a long few days considering that I slept for 15 minutes last night. After Eric and I won in spades, I finished packing, and then Eric, Jessica, Sarah, and I all hung out in our room and stayed up all night talking. We had to start loading up the bus at 3:15 this morning, so it wasn't too difficult for us to stay up for the last hour. After somehow finding the energy to load up the bus, we left Puerto Limon at 4:00 this morning on our bus. Everyone surprisingly had quite a bit of energy when we first got on the bus! I guess it was the thrill that we were heading back home, but it didn't last for too long. After listening to music and talking for a little while, just about everone fell asleep. We got to the San Jose airport around 7:00... much earlier than we expected. Since our flight didn't leave until 11:30, we had to hang out in the airport for four hours basically trying to waste time. At this point, I was super hungry since I hadn't had anything to eat since my Burger King the last night. I refused to pay the ridiculous prices to get food at the airport, so I just waited until the free airplane lunch (which was a disgusting chicken sandwich). This is about the time when I became really delirious haha. I was super giggly and having so much fun doing nothing with everyone. Finally our plane took off, we landed in Houston around 4:15, and I was back to my house around 5:30! It was really hard to leave everyone after living with them for a month. I HATE goodbyes, even though I know that this isn't goodbye forever. I'm so glad that all of us go to A&M because I know that I will still be able to see people, and a few of us have classes together next fall. I can't wait to take both Brannstrom's and Quiring's classes next semester. I know that some of the people that I met on this trip will be my very good friends for a long time.
It is still so weird being back in America. I absolutely hate having my cell phone after not having to deal with it for a whole month. It was so nice to not have to worry about anything or be on a strict schedule like I am back in the states. Basically... I miss everything about Costa Rica already. The country is so laid-back as a whole, and it isn't congested like America is. I loved how family oriented the whole country was, and of course I really enjoyed having to speak Spanish... or at least try to. I'm still going to speak it as much as I can here, even if everyone laughs. Some more things that I'm going to miss a whole lot are the awesome music, being able to eat Mmmios (an ice cream bar that is almost like a Snickers), being able to walk anywhere that you want to go, Cremas (two vanilla cookies with icing in the middle), how people will talk to you and be friendly because you are a foreigner, sodas (small restaurants that serve typical Costa Rican food) and pulperias/supers (grocery stores), learning about a new culture, and of course I'm going to miss all of the people that I was with. I was really lucky to be able to room with Eric and Brandon for most of the last half of the trip. I really liked both of them and loved every second of living with them. Like I mentioned earlier, I feel like I made quite a few really good friends and I can't wait to see how those frienships grow.
Before I forget... a few more random things. The boys use so much hair gel, it's ridiculous. They all had mohawks or had their hair spiked up all over. Inside jokes such as the "Jack Sparrow" song by the Lonely Island and "Drunk History" and "Boys will be girls" videos with countless quotable moments.
Words cannot express how much I'm going to miss being in Costa. On the other hand, I am SO GLAD that I have kept a blog throughout this entire experience. I can't wait to read back through it to re-live every day. This truly was the best experience of my life. I was so blessed to be given this opportunity to study abroad, and I'm so glad that I didn't let it slip through my fingers. Living in Costa for a month has changed the way that I view life and has made me so much more appreciative for the things that I have. I would not have traded this experience for anything. I will NEVER forget this trip and how much I loved it. I was happy the entire time (well, minus the few times when I would complain about school work) and surprisingly never got homesick or wished to go home. When everyone else was ready to get home, I was still wishing that we had more time to stay. I love everything about the country... how green it is, the people, the culture, the food, the overall way of life, the atmosphere. I'm going to try my hardest to make it back to Costa Rica someday... and it would be so cool if I could live there! That's how much I loved it. As my trip has come to an end, I keep finding myself trying to hold onto every last bit of it. I still have 3,000 colones in my wallet and even more in coins in my backpack. I also still have my bus tickets, my Cuban cigar wrapper, and a taxi driver's number hoping that these will let me be able to hang on as long as possible. For as long as I live, I will have Costa Rica in my heart. I hate ending this because it is bringing me closer to the reality that I'm not in Costa anymore. I can't help but to get choked up thinking about how it is over. I feel like I owe a thank you to Costa Rica as a whole... thank you Costa Rica for providing me with a better experience than I could have ever dreamed of. You have changed me as a person and now have a special place in my heart by showing me the best month of my life. I will never forget what I experienced and I WILL be back someday. PURA VIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!
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