Music: The Offspring – You're Gonna Go Far Kid
So. Tired. I've been up for approximately twenty hours. I got up at 4:00 to go to the airport in Detroit, got there around 5:30, and got on the plane at 7:00, after two separate trips through security (they made me go back and check my carry-on – go figure the one time they actually bother to look is the time I have way too many liquids). The flight wasn't direct, obviously. I got into Houston at 9:30 and then left again an hour later. I finally made it to San Jose, Costa Rica at 13:00 local time (which is two hours behind Ohio/Washington. It's Central Time, but they don't do Daylight Savings Time here). Immigration and customs were a breeze, and so was getting to the bus station. The cab driver who took me there was really nice, and even helped me buy my ticket to Liberia, though there wasn't a seat available until 4.
Anyway, I finally got on the bus, and I was kind of freaking out, because I realized I was going to get to Liberia a lot later than I had originally thought, and I didn't know how to get ahold of the program people to let them know. I tried to use a pay phone and call my mom collect, so she could call them, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to make it work. The same thing happened when the bus stopped at a little soda for a rest break – these phones are crazy difficult to use! The view from the soda was amazing – lush, green, jungle-filled valley. I could have stared for hours, but we only had ten minutes.
I made it to Liberia at 7:45, which was fifteen minutes late according to the travel guide, but actually turned out to be about two hours late, since they had taken all the students to dinner at 6. Teresita, the program director, literally came running from dinner and was like, “Oh my god we didn't know what happened to you, we hadn't heard anything from the program, and you hadn't called... What happened? Where were you?” I think she was even more freaked than I was in the bus station, ha. Well, she took me over to where they were having dinner and introduced me to everyone and then brought me a plate full of delicious spinach crepe and a salad. Everyone else had already finished eating and was about to head out, so I really only had a few minutes to talk with my roommates for the night, though Teresita and Yanori (one of the program assistants) sat and talked with me the whole time.
I went back to the room after dinner and rearranged my suitcases (too much OCD for my own good) and talked with my roommates, Stephanie F. and Brittany, and then we went for a short walk. Now we're back in the hotel, and I'm going to pass out. Honestly, I can't believe I managed to stay awake long enough to write this. Orientation starts at 8 tomorrow, so I'm going to go pass out.
Pura Vida,
Sarah
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