Two days to go!

It's Thursday morning and I can hardly believe I'll be off to Costa Rica in less than 48 hours! I'm excited to get out there right away. There are still many things to do before I leave, but I've gotten some of the more important stuff out of the way. I decided to buy an international cell phone in case of emergency. Mobal has a great deal on a $99 phone that includes $99 in call credit, so the phone is essentially free – plus they don't charge monthly minimums or impose expiration dates on their minutes. I wish I'd've known about them when I went to Europe last year; for that trip I paid over $50 for one week's worth of rental and calls, and of course I had to send the phone back after I was done with it.

The school I'm going to, Intercultura, has two campuses: one in Heredia just outside the capital (San José) and the other on the Pacific coast in Playa Sámara. This offers students the unique opportunity to experience both city and rural life in a Latin American country. In that vain, I'll be taking my first and final weeks in Heredia, and spending two weeks in Sámara in between. I will get to know two different host families in the process.

I've been doing a lot of research on Costa Rican customs, their unique version of Spanish, their transportation system and their interesting way of giving directions. You see, Ticos don't use street addresses like we do. Everything is located in relation to intersections and landmarks. For example, the "address" for my first homestay simply says, "Frente al Registro Civil de Heredia, casa no. 2" – in other words, "Opposite the Heredia Civil Registry, House #2." My other family's address is even stranger: "Las Palmeras residences, 500 meters to the west, in the Cantarrana neighborhood, second entrance on the right . . ." and on and on. Sometimes, directions may be given in relation to landmarks that no longer exist! On top of that, Ticos can be helpful to a fault: They'd rather give wrong directions than no directions at all! It makes me strongly consider buying a Costa Rican map for my GPS just to be sure – although I'll probably still ask for directions just for the experience and to practice more of my Spanish.

This is definitely going to be an interesting trip! I'll write more about my research on Tico culture in my next update.