Saturday, January 17, 2009

El primer dia

Well, I guess I'm gonna need to figure out how to do accent marks on this thing.

I made it, guys! I'm in Costa Rica! As nervous as Mom and Dad were for me (traveling alone internationally), everything went really smoothly. (Except, guys? If you ever have to spend the night on the floor of an airport terminal, bring warm clothes in your carry-on. Perhaps a nice blanket as well. I think it will improve your quality of life for the night.) After I parted with the nice Minnesotan couple I sat with on the plane and realized I was on my own, I had no qualms throwing some Spanish around to figure things out. I was surprised (and relieved) at how quickly the words came back to me. Since the whole airport experience boosted my confidence a little, I had fun practicing with my taxi driver and now I'm really comfortable communicating in Spanish.

My host family is absolutely fantastic. I'm following with Kendra's tradition from last year by calling them Mama Tica y Papa Tico, and their little Schnauzer Carlita really is precious. I even have a host sister, if you will: Courtney, another Westmont student. We have our own rooms, which is nice, and wireless internet access (which is nicer). The house is beautiful and there's this great little sun room just outside the dining room that I fully plan on taking advantage of. We have like 4 keys just to get into the house, and there's a baby blue security guard stand a couple doors down.

Also. Courtney, the ASU guys, and I walked to this little bar in our neighborhood. While we were there they played Aqua ("Happy Boys and Girls"), Disney ("Beauty and the Beast"), Gloria Estefan, and I'm pretty sure Michael Bolton was involved as well. Talk about culture shock...

7 comments:

Linnellie said...

Hey girl! How awesome that you're in Costa Rica! :) I'm abroad in Barcelona, España... soy una au pair y estoy estudiando castellano. Si quieres saber cómo tener un keyboard española (con: ñ, é, í, á...), digame. ¿Vale? If you have Windows Vista and want a Spanish keyboard, I know how to switch the keyboard incredibly easily. I use it all of the time.

I´m glad you made it there safely! Have a great time! :)

Scott said...

Hey friend, I'm excited for you! We'll have to skype sometime and catch up. Best of luck and have a great time =)

kendra said...

tell me the bar you went to is pollo cervecerro..

Calvin and Kelli said...

Sage! I am so happy that Calvin and I will be able to keep up with your adventures in Costa Rica! I pray that your stay there will be safe and filled with wonderful memories! God bless and keep in touch!

-Kelli

Calvin and Kelli said...

I'm glad your airport experience boosted your confidence in Spanish...definitely that's the part of the trip that can make you feel like you'll either do fine, or you're utterly doomed (though I felt utterly doomed based on my Charles de Gaulle experience, then was fine the rest of the time in France.) Anyhow, I'm very excited for you, and am excited to follow your time in Costa Rica!

-Calvin

kim said...

sagey!! i am so excited to hear about your time in costa rica! and i know exactly what you mean about having a billion keys to get into your house...when i lived there i had 3: 1 for the gate, 1 for the house, 1 for my room...kinda ridic haha. pura vida! :)

Speech is a mouth. said...

All of this sounds awesome, I'm kinda jealous. Post more pictures!!!