San Jose

I live in San Jose like I live in Cleveland, it's not the city proper, but it's easier than saying the suburb and no one knowing what you are talking about. So yesterday I (along with the rest of my group) went to San Jose, and here is the story.
About half of them went into the city on Tuesday, so the rest of us had to depend on them with regards to buses and directions. When we got to the bus stop, we had to wait for the right bus, which is harder than it looks, when no one wants to make the wrong decision. Needless to say, we arrived at the bus stop at 2:30 and didn't get into San Jose until quarter after three. It was not a 45 minute bus ride. When we finally got there, everything went smoothly. We bought watches and walked around a beautiful downtown. In fact, it wasn't until we were in the bus, on our way back that we ran into a problem; but what a problem.
See, there is this store, called "Super Bataria" right around the corner from where we all live. Apparently there is more than one Super Bataria, but we didn't know that. We now know that. As I am sure you have already guessed, we got off at the wrong spot. Not wanting to waste any money getting on another bus, we just decided to walk. Fortunately, one of us knew where we were going, so a forty five minute walk later (and only having to cross one insanely busy street), we were all home.
My travel advise to all who read this is don't take a walking tour of an area unless it's planned; it's not nearly as fun.

Suprises

Well I'm here. I don't think it really sank in until I was landing in Costa Rica. And even now, though I know I'm here, I still have a little trouble wrapping my head around the fact that I will be here for another three and some months.
Even though I have been here less than 24 hours, these are the things that have suprised me thus far. First is the size of my family. When I was told where I would be living, they said it was a mother, a father, and an 18 year old daughter. What they didn't say is that the older daughter also lived with them. The older daughter has four kids. There is also a dog. It barks at me a lot. Also, the weather is absolutely beautiful. Everybody told me so, but I thought they were lying because they knew I hated hot weather. They were not lying. I think it's in the low 70s right now. The thing that suprises me the most though is how natural it feels. Yes, it's a little akward when I'm trying to say something and can't or when one of the kids are repeating themselves for the forth time, but that's to be expected. But when it comes down to it, I've only been here a night, and it's starting to feel like home.

Before I Go

Well, I've cleaned up my room, which was the first step in jetting out of here. That makes it sound like I am practically jumping from excitement. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited, but with any adventure, the excitement is somewhat tainted by the fear of the unknown. I'll be living in a foreign country with a family I know nothing about. Don't try to tell me that if you were faced with those prospects you wouldn't be a little nervous.
But I digress. I am leaving in less than a week. Since Monday I've been thinking "This is the last time I'll (insert activity) until I get back." or "A week from now I'll have been there however many hours/days etc." I haven't full-on hyperventilated yet, but that's only because I've been keeping myself from doing so. It's odd, because I know that once I get there, the time will fly impossibly quickly, but since I am not there yet, a whole semester seems like a long time. I'm sure my final post in Costa Rica will say something along the line of 'Oh my lands, I can't believe it's already time to go!' Hmm, we shall see.