First Day: “Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert

The day has finally arrived! I am on my way to Costa Rica, currently flying over some part of the middle of the United States on my way to Houston. This isn’t my first blog post; I actually wrote my first post several months ago in a state of giddy anticipation of the trip. But now it is really here. My first full year at UNI is over. I had an awesome semester. I made tons of amazing new friends, volunteered, went on a road trip, took the MCAT, and finished organic chemistry. It kept me busy, to say the least!

Friday and Saturday were emotional days as I said goodbye to friends and family. My mom woke up at 3 am and drove me down to Cedar Rapids this morning. From there I went to Chicago and now on to Houston. Unfortunately, there is bad weather in Texas so the flight is an hour longer and I am scheduled to miss my final flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. I am anxious to arrive so I hope that by some small miracle the gates are next to each other and the five minutes I have to catch my flight will be sufficient. If not, I’ve never been to Texas before and I suppose I will experience Houston! J

I hope that I can stay in touch with everyone through this blog while I’m on my trip. PLEASE ask questions or write me a quick note. I would love to hear from everyone! I hope you enjoy my blog
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Day Zero of my Costa Rican Journey and here are my stats:

Spanish skill level: terrible

Skin color: pasty white

Number of Costan Rican friends: 0

Number of Costa Rican boys kissed: 0

Lowest Latitude Reached: 35° (Crete)

Money Spent: $0

Pictures taken in Costa Rica: 0*

*The final stat here is going to shock you J

Ready to go... almost

My suitcase is packed, my room is empty, I have one final left to take and a ton of friends to say good bye to. I can't believe it is almost time to go; the last few weeks have flown by. Tomorrow will be a happy and sad day as I finish with my last final (what a relief!) and say good bye to everyone for the summer. I have made so many amazing friends. It has been the best semester yet.

2 weeks

While avoiding studying today I packed up 3 garbage bags (hey, you become resourceful in college) full of my stuff to take home that I am not taking to Costa Rica. It is now in my car and my room is that much neater. Actually, you can't tell the difference because I took everything out of cupboards and drawers, but I feel like it is more neat, despite that.

I just want to go get a suitcase and start packing! It is killing me to have to study when I just want to be having fun with my friends and getting ready to go. Just 2 weeks... I have to keep telling myself that. In the next two weeks I have six tests, a paper to write, a birthday to celebrate, and a three month journey to prepare for! It is going to fly by. Hannah Wilson helped me focus by taking me to Panera to study and have coffee. I love that girl.

 

I am not ok with winter in April....

This past week the crazy Iowan spring weather has taken me from bike riding in shorts and a tank top to pulling my coat back out of the closet. I will not be sad to leave this dreary, cold, wintry weather.

Cedar Falls weather:

Outside the dorms - where students should  be throwing footballs, having picnics and studying.

Weather in San Jose, Costa Rica (my future home):

 In case your eyes are bad, or you just don't want to acknowledge the fact that not everywhere is forced to experience a 'permawinter,' the high for today is 87.

My trip is just over two weeks away and I am really starting to get excited! I have completed all the paperwork for school and I now know my home stay information! I will be staying with a woman named Virgina and her dog. She has a 50 year-old son and a 40 year-old daughter. Apparently she will be more like my host-grandma than my host-mom, but I am perfectly happy with that! I wrote her a quick note tonight and can't wait to hear back from her. My Spanish is so poor I was nervous to even send her my short note telling her a little bit about myself. I am so anxious to begin to learn the language (and take a break from chemistry!) 17 days and counting...