Waiting for the adventures to start!

My second day was a bit more exciting than the first, but that's not saying much, as I slept the day away yesterday. However, it still has been a glorious two days and I have no complaints whatsoever! I love it! ¡Pura pura pura vida!

The owners of my hostel told me yesterday they would take me to mass today; however, I forget to ask what time they wanted to go. Due to a combination of fearing missing out on their offer, loud birds, and an early early sunrise, I have been up since about 6:30. Thankfully, I slept so much yesterday that I am not too tired today & getting up early wasn't bad. First thing I attempted to do was figure out my new shower, which didn't go so well. It was a very long two-minute shower--so cold I could barely breathe! Very interesting & definitely not what I'm used to, but I figure that these showers will build character. Also, heating water is probably inefficient, so I can contribute to a greener Earth by taking shorter, colder showers (that thought is for Phil! ;)).

The hostel is really nice. I've posted more pictures on Facebook, but here are some highlights:

My bedroom! My hostel doesn't have air-conditioning, so the windows stay open all the time--no screens. So far no weird crazy bugs.. So far.. 

This morning I sat outside on the patio and read for a couple of hours. The mornings aren't quite as humid--it was actually chilly! I needed a sweater. 

The Spanish is challenging, BUT I can only improve! I went to mass with the family and definitely had difficulty following along. At one point during the homily, I thought the priest said, "Dios es alemán," which translates to "God is German." I thought it was supposed to be a funny joke, so I waited for the punchline, but nobody laughed or even cracked a smile. So either it was a really bad joke or the priest did not in fact say that God is German. Note to self: become fluent in Spanish.

Parroquia Nuestro Señora Virgen de Loreto (the Catholic church)

The internship starts tomorrow! Yay! I'm excited to get up and moving more. I've enjoyed relaxing in the hostel for the past 24 hours or so, but I'm ready to be more adventuresome. :)

¡Estoy en San Jose!

I made it! Everything went as well as it could have possibly gone. My flights were EARLY. When are planes early?! I passed through security easily, made friends on the plane, getting through customs was a breeze, AND my luggage was the first one to come out in the baggage claims! Whoa, super blessed! The owner of the hostel I am staying at, Gabriel, is also really nice. He picked me up from the airport, and we attempted to have a conversation in Spanish on the way back to the hostel. It went okay.. If I wasn't running on ~3 hours of sleep, I might have a better vocab recall, but I think for the first taste of speaking Spanish here in Costa Rica, it wasn't half bad. He said I did well, anyways! If I can keep it up, I will be MUCH better by the end of my 2 months here!

San Jose seems like it is a very tiny city. It smells kind of strange--the pollution is really bad here. It is VERY hot, but it has been raining for the past 20 minutes or so and has cooled down considerably. My hostel is very nice! I will put up pictures on Facebook once I recover the willpower to move. So far, so good! If the rest of my trip is as pleasant as the past 12 hours have been, I may not come home. I have all day tomorrow to stock up on food, go to mass, and get ready for my first day on the job! Yay! Until then, I will feast on my Cliff bars (too rainy for me to walk to the store--plus I don't know how to get there) and sleep.

Until next time!

amdg. 

It's about that time...

Well, I leave for Costa Rica in about 22 hours. I am mostly just shocked at how fast time has flown by. I'm pretty sure I was booking my flights in February yesterday, so the fact that I have about 22 hours before I leave the good ol' USA to go on an adventure of a lifetime is a little bizarre! I'm a little nervous, mostly about having everything prepared. I've waterproofed my shoes (it is rainy season in Costa Rica), printed my boarding passes, and I am about 95% finished with packing. Packing is actually a very stressful thing for me because I am a chronic over-packer. I always have been--it's innate. For example, my family went to Italy when I was 10 to visit family for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, our luggage got lost, and we had to live out of our carry-ons for a couple of days. Thankfully, 10-year-old Haley packed several outfits in her carry-on, so she was fine and didn't have to worry about wearing the same outfit for 3 days straight, unlike the rest of the family. In the question of "nature vs. nurture," this is definitely my nature. As one might imagine, packing for a 2 month trip was daunting for me, especially since I'll be doing a variety of activities such as hiking, being in the city, working, going to the beach, and who knows what else. However, I think I did a pretty good job, and I will only be checking one bag--a miracle for someone like me.

I start my internship on Monday. As for what I will be doing, I'm not exactly sure, but I have been given some direction. There are two projects Sanigest might have me work on: HIV/AIDS resource allocation in Mexico and Bahamas creation of a national health insurance. As Sanigest is an international organization, they do a lot of dabbling in the health issues of other countries--fascinating, right?! I am very blessed to have this opportunity and have been PRAYING that it goes well! I think it will all tie in nicely with my Brueggeman research and the project I am trying to write up for that. I am so excited!! I hope to learn a lot and do a lot--the more hands-on, the better! I am looking to do some traveling on the weekends, and, thanks be to God, Sanigest hired another female intern (who has already invited me to travel with her!), so I will have a travel buddy. YAY! :)  

The only thing standing between my summer fun and me is a 6-hour shift at Kohl's (my old summer job). And doing the rest of my packing. And reassuring my mother that just because I am going to Central America, it does not mean that I am going to run off with a drug lord and squander my life away. ;) Love you, mom!!

Here's to the start of a great adventure! ¡Hasta pronto! :)

amdg.