My travel companion, partner, and fellow classmate, Whitney, and I arrived in Costa Rica on Wednesday, July 1, after a grueling 12 hours and 2 plane flights later. We rapidly caught a taxi to the scummiest bus terminal in the center of San Jose. There we grabbed a bit of the local fare, paid to pee, and boarded the bus for a 5 ½ hour ride to the coast along the narrow and windy jungle highways. A word of warning for taking the buses here: don’t forget the Dramamine. Afterward, I felt like I had been on a whirly ride at the fair. Also, if you are taller than 5′ 2″, you may have to sit with your knees in your chest.

Apparently, few people here obey the traffic laws or speed limits either. Drivers as well as pedestrians must be on the alert at all times! Remember to watch where you are walking so as to avoid stumbling over uneven surfaces. Within hours I had fallen and scraped up my knee pretty badly. No worries, though. The local pharmacies quickly dispense just about anything you need for cuts and bruises without a prescription! We finally arrived at our hostel, Backpackers Manuel Antonio, after 22 hours of travel and were completely exhausted! We ate in a cute little “soda,” a small diner of sorts, and quickly went to bed. We spent 3 full days exploring the beaches and Manuel Antonio National Park. We took a guided tour (well worth the extra money) and saw sloths, toucans, iguanas, bats, and various species of frogs and monkeys. The beaches were beautiful and not crowded since it is the rainy season here. By the way, there are two seasons: rain and no rain. The humidity was high and I was glad to have the cloud cover and the rain for relief from the hot sun and the mosquitos!

All in all, the first few days were relaxing, inexpensive, and the “ticos” (locals) were extremely friendly and hospitable. On Sunday we made our way back to Santa Ana, a small suburb outside of the capital, San Jose. This time it only took us 3 ½ hours. We learned that the direct bus does not stop at every town along the way. I wish I would have known that before our previous bus trip. We met with our host family and promptly went to bed to rest up for our class the following day. The Conversa campus is located on a forested hillside overlooking a valley. It is truly a tropical paradise! My class was awesome, but my Spanish was really rusty. My head hurt from translating all day long. Im not used to thinking in Spanish any longer. I am afraid that by the time I am comfortable with it, it will be time to leave.