Greetings from Costa Rica!

This semester I am blogging from Costa Rica, which so far has lived up to its reputation of being an incredible and beautiful country.  There are ten students, myself included, in our study abroad group.  We are living with separate host families in the city of San Ramón, which is about 40 minutes by bus from the capital, San José.  My host family is very nice, a woman and her daughter and daughter’s husband, and their two little girls, ages 9 and 4.  The girls are adorable and very friendly.  So far I have tried a lot of new foods, many of which are tropical fruits.  The people here eat lots of fruit, and drink a lot of juice.  I sort of miss drinking just plain water!  I am also missing going around the house barefoot, which is not done here.  It is a little overwhelming to be surrounded by so much that is unfamiliar and different, and to have to think hard all the time in order to understand what people are saying!  Crossing the street is challenging, since the drivers here are absolutely insane.  They aren’t too concerned about wearing seatbelts either.  But I am having an enormous amount of fun and am thoroughly enjoying exploring San Ramón.  Oddly enough, I am missing not returning to Linfield with the rest of the students.  I am also missing my family and friends.  We arrived just in time for the festival of San Ramón, in which the statue of San Ramón, the patron saint of the city, is carried through the streets, followed by a procession of visiting saints from neighboring areas.  There was a tremendous crowd, lots of music, food, and art for sale.  This weekend we are going to a forest reserve, and I am very excited, although I am extremely afraid of snakes and I don’t want to encounter any.  Before traveling, however, I made an extensive effort to overcome my phobia, so, I am confident that I won’t have a full on panic attack if we do see snakes.  I will soon write about the reserve and other experiences to come!