Costa Rica....B-E-A-U-tiful

Well, we've officially been in Costa Rica 2 weeks on Wednesday. This is an absolutely beautiful country. The city of San Jose is in the middle of numerous mountains and is a wonderful city. The people here are friendly and willing to talk to just about anyone, which makes it a lot of fun living in this culture. We had a great trip here and it feels good to finally unpack all the bags and put things into dressers, especially after living out of a suitcase for 3 months!

We are getting ourselves settled still and learning about the area and the people. The climate is awesome right now, as it is the rainy season. It can get a little cool in the evenings (down to the 60s) and during the days I think the hottest it has been is 85 or so, but it hasn't really been hot, which is quite a nice change from El Salvador. This is a very different culture from El Salvador even though we are only 2 countries away from there. For one, it is completely safe for gringos (that would be anyone white) to walk around on the streets without fear. Yes there is still crime and people get mugged, but the danger is so much less than that of El Salvador. In El Salvador we can't walk on the streets in the city safely, can't go to the markets, can't ride the bus or any public transportation. Here, we can walk or ride and can go to the downtown area or open markets without much fear. I must admit that I love that about this culture.

We have had the opportunity to experience the open market or feria, which is essentially like a farmer's market. We loved going in Orlando and it is even better here. The prices are mostly pretty cheap in comparison, with the exception of some of the foods we typically get in the states. You make trade-offs in prices, but overall it's not too bad. We love going downtown and walking around or just exploring in general. We have gotten lost a couple times and had some unique experiences, but overall we love being here.

Things we miss the most:

1. Cell phones - Can't get them without residency and it makes it hard at times

2. Car - while it is nice exercise to walk everywhere, sometimes you just don't want to

3. ESPN - this is more for me than for Lisa...it is football season after all

I'm sure there are other things, but for right now everything seems pretty good. I'm going to try and make this a regular habit just to give everyone insight in the life of a language school student in Costa Rica. I'll talk more about CINCEL and classes later. Blessings!