Before things get too crazy…

My room :)

 My program has officially started and my life will probably get crazier now, so I figure I should update this while I still can!  I met my host family today (most of it anyway) and the other ISA student who I am living with.  Everyone seems great, and I am very excited to be living where I am!  It seems like, unlike my Argentina homestay, this one really is just a short walk away from the university and ISA office.  Takes off a little of the 9 am orientation sting…  Oh, and I have WiFi :)

If the people I have encountered so far are any indication, I can say with increasing certainty that the people in Costa Rica are extremely friendly and always ready to help.  Between all the Ticos (what Costa Ricans call themselves) who helped out during the bus adventure and the beyond-friendly workers at Casa Ridgeway and the Costa Rica Backpackers hostel, I feel very welcome here.  I also encountered this at a restaurant called Tin Jo that serves pan-Asiatic food.  While the food was pretty good, I was most impressed by how they handled the fact that they were busier than they could handle.  Until Tin Jo, I had never seen a restaurant hand out glasses of wine to the patrons waiting for tables.  They also took other drink orders and passed around menus.  I was waiting for a carryout order, and one of the waiters brought out a stool for me to sit on because all the seating was full.

My adventure today, besides meeting my Tica family, consisted of exploring the Centro Nacional de Arte y Cultura.  My Let’s Go travel guide had a helpful hint regarding this landmark, saying that I could use a certain entrance and possibly see performers practicing.  I used what appeared to be the entrance mentioned, from the Parque de España, and found some martial artists practicing on an outdoor stage.  I also stumbled upon some empty dance studies that appeared to be used by the National Dance Company.  Surprisingly, they were sitting wide open, with no signs saying who can or cannot use them, so I helped myself to a few minutes of studio time.  I will definitely be hunting down somewhere to take some kind of dance class while I am here, and it sounds like there will be a lot of performances that I can go see as well!

Lastly, I apologize for the lack of pictures right now.  As a lone, female traveler for the past few days, I didn’t want to have my camera out all the time…

Pura vida!