Day One, THE ARRIVAL

8/17/2013

Kimberly

We all met on campus to drive to Nashville for our first plane ride which would lead to Charlotte,
North Carolina and eventually Costa Rica. It was the first time I had been on a plane in 20 years and my memory doesn’t even extend as far as my first plane trip so it felt like a completely new experience. Other than being utterly clueless on airport procedure and that feeling your stomach has disappeared into your spine during takeoff and landing, the journey was nice. The trip to Charlotte was quiet and much quicker than I had anticipated. Leaving Charlotte for Costa Rica was a bit more exciting. The man and woman to my side asked about my trip and why I was going to Costa Rica. They spoke with me in Spanish a little about all of the things there are to see in Costa Rica. By the end of our plane ride they seemed almost as excited for me as I was myself. I finally got a stamp in my Passport after going through Customs and then we took our picture by the “Pura Vida” sign before venturing off into the third airport of the day.

Alexander

Calle 42 in San José, Costa Rica

Once we got the hotel, we decided that we were going to go out to eat since we hadn’t the whole trip. This turned out to be more of an adventure then any of us had imagined. Not only did it start to rain, but it poured. We were not prepared for this type of down pour, especially with two to an umbrella in shorts and a jacket. It also didn’t help that we weren’t entirely sure where we were going or where exactly the restaurant that we were looking for was located. The sidewalks had begun to flood and some left 8-12in puddles of waters; more like mini lakes. Dr. Zapata and Kimberly unfortunately found this out the hard way when they decided that they were wet enough that a small puddle wouldn’t hurt, not realizing that it was a 12in deep puddle. One step in and they were calf high in water with 6 or 7 feet to go. It was hilarious, all up until a speeding car came around the corner and hit a puddle which then sprayed my brother and I’s backside. It looked like a scene straight out of a movie. It was all good fun and laughs. After asking two different people along the way, we made it to the restaurant.

Polina

Our trip to Costa Rica started very early in the morning. We met at 3:00am on campus and drove together to the airport. The flight was fine and not long at all. We arrived to San José around 3:30 pm. It was raining, but the rain stopped soon. We arrived to the hotel and checked in without any problems. The hotel is very nice. The name of the hotel is Cristina suites. We are all living in an apartment, which includes three bedrooms and the kitchen. Kimberly and I share a bedroom. After we settled down we had decided to go out to eat something. It was raining, but we decided to walk under umbrellas. While we were walking rain got heavier and heavier, and then it was pouring. We were walking for about 15 minutes, and by the time we arrived to the restaurant we were completely soaked. I hope that for the rest of the trip we will stay dry. The food in the restaurant was very good. The restaurant’s name was Princesa Marina, which serves seafood. I really enjoyed my dinner. I ordered a juice called Mora, a shrimp cocktail and the fish in the mushroom sauce. The price was very reasonable for a large dinner. That was my first experience in Costa Rica and I enjoyed every moment of it.

La Princesa Marina

8 Comments

DJ Ottman link

12/11/2013 06:12:19 am

Visiting Costa Rica sounds exciting. I am interested to know if "pura vida" is a slogan for the trip or if it is a common saying in that country.

Danielle Barnett

12/11/2013 07:24:12 am

I agree, Costa Rica looks beautiful in the pictures. I would love to try all of the different fruit. I also think it was funny that it poured down rain because we can definitely relate to that here. Costa Rica seems like an amazing place and I'm sure studying abroad there was such an amazing experience.

Jake Willis

12/11/2013 02:35:44 pm

I experience the bad weather luck every time I go somewhere! I hope the rain didn't ruin the experience of the first night in Costa Rica, though. I wonder how long it took you to order your food, because it still takes me a long time to read a menu at Real Hacienda in Owensboro! I bet Costa Rica was a great experience.

Lydia Kaminski

12/12/2013 03:45:56 am

In high school, my Spanish teacher would take some of his Spanish V students to Costa Rica. Since I was the only person to sign up for the class, the trip didn't happen, but I would love to go someday! Were the people there understanding and patient with you still learning Spanish?

Kimberly Gowan

12/14/2013 12:23:49 pm

They were very understanding. Especially our driver, Sergio. We had long car rides talking to him every day. He would stop on the side of the road for us to take pictures or tell us about things we were seeing. almost three fourths of Costa Rica's GDP comes from tourism so most everyone knows some English also.

Justin Kinison

12/12/2013 09:08:40 am

Costa Rice is definitely one of the places I would love to visit at some point in my life. It must be a great experience to sample the local cuisine and take in the scenery, especially coming from a place like Owensboro. Too bad it had to be raining while you were walking hard to enjoy the walk when you're getting soaked!

Justin Kinison

12/12/2013 09:09:20 am

Costa Rica*

Jacob Putman

12/13/2013 12:20:40 am

I've traveled out of the U.S. on a few occasions but I've never been to anywhere in Latin America. This all seems pretty interesting!

I'm Kimberly...

As a Sophomore at Kentucky Wesleyan College I elected to participate in a study abroad program with my Spanish class that landed me in Costa Rica with two other students, my teacher, and also her younger son. As a part of our homework assignments we were required to write a journal about what we learned each day. These are excerpts from each of our journals as we experienced the wonders of Costa Rica and discovered what it is like to live a Pura Vida.