Settling in

I landed in San José at around 10 AM this morning. I spent the last few minutes of the flight looking out the window at the green, hilly landscape. There was even a building that had "PURA VIDA" emblazoned on its roof. ("Pura vida," meaning "pure life," is the closest thing that Costa Rica has to a national motto.) The trip through customs was really quick. I spoke to the customs inspector in Spanish and had a nice conversation about where I was from and where I was born. I had to wait a short while before my ride came, but not too long. The cab manager, Henry, was very helpful and offered to call one of my contacts at Intercultura to check the status of my ride. He said my contact would call back in a few minutes, but my pick-up arrived soon enough with my hostess Zeneida and our driver Hector. Zeneida from the very beginning was friendly and full of pura vida – and even though my itinerary says she's pushing 70, you'd never guess it.

Zeneida lives on the outskirts of downtown Heredia in a home that dons an eclectic mix of extensions. Her bedroom used to be the patio before she had it converted. My room is on the second floor connected to another flat with separate rooms she rents out to university students. It has a private bathroom and shower and a great balcony that overlooks the central valley. Since the extensions grew organically without a master plan, getting to my room involves either going through Zeneida's room and up the back stairs, or going up the front stairs through the separate flat. I have five separate keys to get through all these doors and gates! In addition (yes, there's more!) she owns a small beauty salon attached to the front of the house.

Two other homestay students, Ken and Ellie, are visiting here from Portland. I thought my stay was long, but theirs is open-ended! Ellie is originally from the UK but lived in Spain for three years, so she's quite fluent and of course speaks with the Castilian distinción – having different s's compared to z's and soft c's. (It's funny to hear her code-switch into her English accent!) Her boyfriend Ken originally studied Italian and so is working to catch up with Ellie. They are muy chévere to talk to.

Downtown Heredia is a bustling shopping district that features all kinds of stores, everything from thrift shops to high-end electronics. I took a short walk around earlier this afternoon. It was fun to get a taste of what shopping is like here, though it was pretty intimidating to have people come up to me and say, "En qué puedo ayudarle?" ("How can I help you?") when I wasn't looking for anything in particular. ¿Cómo se dice, "I'm just looking"?