68 days later....

I made it to Costa Rica. I don’t even know where to begin. First, after I said goodbye to my family in the Omaha airport, I cried to myself while waiting to board the plane. Pretty sure everyone was staring at me the whole time-I guess you could say I was their entertainment at 5 in the morning. I got on the plane, sat next to some guy, I think but not completely sure, and we talked for a little bit. Did I mention my suitcase weighed 67 pounds? That’s 17 pounds over the limit, so my lovely mother paid the extra fee. Then I got off the plane in Houston, and was scared. The airport was so big! No one informed me I was going to have to take a subway in order to get to the correct terminal! On this plane, I met a girl who had been to Costa Rica before. She was returning for an internship for her Masters program. We talked most of the three hour flight. Once the plane had touched Costa Rica land, I think that is when it hit me that I was in Costa Rica and going to be here for six months. Yikes!
When I first got off, I started freaking out because I assumed my family was going to be right outside the gate when I got off. But no, I went through immigration and customs first-which I had no idea where they were. I got onto an elevator-there was NO buttons in the elevator except for two. I pushed one and thank goodness that one opened the doors so I walked right back out of the elevator and asked someone where immigration was. But wait, there was a sign right above the elevator that said immigration with an arrow pointing up-I wonder how many Americans go on this elevator and come right back off it on a daily basis. When I was in line going through immigration, a worker from the airport walked up to me and asked if my eyes were real or if they were fake contacts. I told him they were real and he tried starting a conversation with me. I didn’t really respond and finally he went away. Creeeepper! After customs, I walked outside to find my name written on a yellow piece of paper with a smiley face on it-how did she know I love smiley faces!? My mom and dad were both there to pick me up. The dad offered to carry my carry on, not my 67 pound bag, OF COURSE!
My family is so nice! I have a 16 year old host sister, Fabiola and a two year old host sister, Maria Pabla. My host parents are divorced. The dad is an English teacher at the high school and at a private university in Costa Rica-he lives in an apartment 3 minutes away which I have yet to see. The mom is a stay at home mom, taking care of Maria Pabla, I think? Maria Pabla loves me and reminds me of my nephews, niece, and kaelyn. She wouldn’t stop staring at my shoe and my anklet bracelet. She also loves to play with my gift from Amanda-which was a bracelet made out of Costa Rica colors with a Nebraska charm on it. The mom knows little English, but the 16 year old daughter knows a lot and is always helping me translate what I want to say in Spanish. My house is somewhat new and has no cockroaches-yet! There is a lot of bugs though, my first night I killed two spiders in the bathroom and three insects in my room. If houses would invest in screens on their windows and doors, there would be no bug problems I think. The first night, Sunday night, my host sister and I went to a internet café so I could tell my mom that I made it to Costa Rica safely. It was a very interesting process. I have never been to one before. When we were walking home, some jeep almost ran into my host sister, he apologized and she said “tranquilo”. I was so confused why she said that because back at home, if you were to say tranquilo, it is usually said to someone freaking out or to tell someone call down. I guess they say tranquilo to mean no worries. Muy interesante. Oh, and my house has no television or the internet. Right now, I am stealing someones internet. Skype is super slow when I am on at home, so I will probably only Skype when I am on campus using the schools wifi.
The food. The first hour of being in Costa Rica, I had already eaten rice, beans, steak, salad, cucumbers, and some peach juice. For those of you who know me well, I would never eat ANY OF THIS en los Estados Unidos. I was very impressed with myself! Today (Monday), my mom made me a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast. Weird…. For lunch, we went to a “soda” at school. Keep in mind; this is the first time I had ordered food. I looked at the menu and only recognized tortilla con queso. So I asked the lady if I could get that, she seemed somewhat annoyed and was like no no no nina, it’s the lunch hour. Sooo, she slapped a whole bunch of things that I had no idea what they were on my plate and handed me some type of juice. I sat down, and ate rice for lunch. I skipped everything else on my plate. It didn’t look too appetizing.
First day of school went well. My mom took me there-we walked 4 blocks to the bus stop, then rode the bus for about 10 minutes, then walked about another 6 blocks to the university. Once we arrived, I was first introduced to Kelsi, who happens to live in the house across the street from me. It was kind of like an orientation day. I took a placement exam and had an interview with one of the teachers from the university. I placed in the intermediate advanced level. The students in the same program as me are very nice! I have met 4 girls who all came together from Indiana. I guess you could call that my “click”. We are already making plans to go to the beach this weekend, don’t be too jealous!
On that note, the weather. It hasn’t been perfect. It’s always raining, but It’s suppose to since Costa Rica is in their winter season. It’s humid, and I am starting to wonder why I brought my hair straightner along. I have only seen one “tico (Costa Rican)” wearing shorts-good thing I only packed shorts!!! People here are crazy drivers. To call them crazy drivers is actually an understatement. Pedestrians never have the right away and there are very few lights and stop signs. On my way to school today, I saw an accident in the middle of an intersection.
Tomorrow (Tuesday), I have class from 8-12 then a group of ISEP students are going to the mall. I will be buying a local telephone. It is suppose to only cost one penny to send/receive a text and only 32 cents per minute phone call. Not too bad!
One thing I need to work on is taking pictures. I always like to say that I just live in the moment. But I feel like I am going to regret not taking pictures once I leave here. I have four pictures so far, so I will post them up as soon as I get a hand full to put up!
That is all I have for now! I would just like to say thank you to all my friends back at home who helped with my surprise going away party! I am one lucky girl to have such a supportive family and friends. I don’t think I could do this without you all! and Mom, thanks for all the surprise letters in my suitcase! It for sure made my first night here sooo much better. Its getting late and I have to be up at 6 in the morning. Adios!

Daniella Cole.