Thursday? Already?

So these past couple days have been so busy! I barely have time to finish my homework before i fall asleep at 10. Sitting in a spanish class for 4 hours a day is so exhausting. Yesterday i had class until 12 then went to a very very very fancy mall. My roommate (Alisha) and i didnt know exactly how far away it was, but it ended up being about a 30 dollar cab ride. The mall was in a very rich suburb of San José with a ton of very american expensive stores. It was about double the size of the Town Center and three stories.

At first i was put into advanced spanish and i tried it out on Monday but it was so hard! Yesterday they moved my down to intermediate 2 and i am loving it. My teacher is so relaxed and nice. Although she gives out the most homework. I am also taking an intercultural communication class as an elective. Luckily that is in English because my brain could explode. I have that class with Alisha and its really fun so far. I cant believe that it has almost been a week already! Tomorrow right after class i am going on a weekend excursion (Many pictures to come!). We are going to this volcano and hot springs called monteverde. The rumor is that there is some flooding up there so we will see how far up we get. In about ten minutes i am leaving for a party that the school is throwing for all the new students.

Today i also went the Mueso de Oro today but i will have to post about it tonight or Monday.

Day 2! First day of school.

First here are some random pics from the trip down here..first my fam. i miss them all so much. then the view from the air.

So somehow this morning my alarm clock'stime zone button got clicked and it was set an hour early. So i was ready and downstairs at 6:30 instead of 7:30. Not a great start to my first day of school but a free hour is a great time to update you guys on everything thats been going on. First of all i want to share my favorite picture so far... I like to be prepared :)

So the flights went great, super long but i survived and made my way here. When i got here i was exhausted and pretty much ate and went to sleep. The next morning (Monday) we had to be at the school at 8 for orientation. We had a ton of our questions answered and it was very nice to hear all the information finally. The school is not the most organized but i got placed into an advanced spanish class, we'll see how that works out. Spanish is SO much easier to learn here. I feel like i have learned more in 2 days here than weeks of school. After orientation we went to a mexican restaurant for lunch. Here was the outcome..

The burrito was amazing but the french fries were way salty. After lunch we went on a tour of downtown San Jose. I was riding backwards in a van for an hour (Barf Central) so i was not up to taking a bunch of pictures.

This whole week is a big blur of confusion. I am so lucky to have a group of girls that are all confused as i am.

The girl on the far left is my housemate (Alesha) the other two live down the street. It appears to be sunny..but that was for about ten minutes before the big thunder and lightening storm. I just realized i didnt bring any sunglasses!! good thing its hardly ever sunny. Well thats all my pictures for now. ¡Hasta Luego!

My first few days have been great! I am learning a ton of Spanish and classes haven't even started. I was placed in a higher spanish that i was originally put into it will be a big challenge. Right now its almost midnight and i have class tomorrow at 8 so i will make this short.

This is my tica (Costa Rican) Mom and another student studying at the school who lives with me.

My tica mama is AMAZING, she is so sweet and so patient with us. I have a million more things to say but i have school at 8 tomorrow and it is now 12:15! Tomorrow will bring full explanations and more pictures.

North Carolina

I have decided I really don't like flying. The air is so annoying and it gives me a sore throat. There is no way i can ever sleep sitting up and between two strangers. So I was too nervous to sleep Friday night and I'm about 1000x more nervous now, so sleep is out of the question. I am currently sitting at the Charlotte airport all by myself feeling exhausted. Although I have to admit there is something empowering about traveling alone, I wish I had just one other person to share this with. Its finally starting to sink in that I will be gone for three months. In my mind this is just a short trip, but I have ten weeks until I can sleep in my own bed. Right now my biggest fears are of losing my baggage and someone forgetting to pick me up at the airport. UGhhhhhh we'll see if either of those happen in about 6.5 hours.

2 days!

After working my butt off this summer i have somehow managed to save 1500 dollars, pay off my credit cards, and pay back the majority of a 1800$ car repair. I have no idea how but it feels excellent to be done. If anyone hears of a job that pays more that 9 dollars an hour, i am NOT working at the pool next summer.

So the day i have been ignoring and dreading has finally come too close to be oblivious to. In exactly 60 hours i will be flying out of Portland to an even rainy-er (sp.?) location. See the forecast below. Amazing.

San Jose, Costa Rica

High Low (°F)	Precip. %
Today Sep 23		Scattered T-Storms	77°/56°	60 %
Fri Sep 24		Heavy T-Storms	77°/57°	80 %
Sat Sep 25		Heavy T-Storms	80°/60°	70 %
Sun Sep 26		Heavy T-Storms	80°/60°	70 %
Mon Sep 27		T-Storms	81°/60°	70 %
Tue Sep 28		T-Storms	81°/59°	70 %
Wed Sep 29		Scattered T-Storms	81°/60°	60 %
Thu Sep 30		Scattered T-Storms	81°/61°	60 %
Fri Oct 01		Scattered T-Storms	81°/61°	60 %
Sat Oct 02		Scattered T-Storms	81°/61°	60 %