Extra time to write :)

Hola!

So I'll give you a little more detail about what has happened so far...

0)I forgot to add the morning feast of the Miami group - Sra. Hennig had promised the small group a lavish breakfast before getting to the airport SOOO early in the morning. They "feasted" on almost-frozen English muffins, exploding butter, and sour oranges before hauling their luggage to their 4:30 shuttle. They got to the airport where they were greeted with ANOTHER lavish breakfast, which they tried very hard to eat, even though they were stuffed. The airport food vouchers, as well as a kind gentleman paid for this extra meal.
1)The dash through the Miami airport. - The little group had a very, very quick connection, but this time they made it! They got their workout in though! They found out that the Miami airport has thousands upon thousands of hallways...well maybe not that many, but it sure seemed like it!
2)The torrential downpour that greeted us as we deplaned. - The big group got into Liberia about an hour after the small group and as we stepped off the plane onto the runway, we noticed a huge wind blowing. Half of the group made it to the tin-roofed baggage claim before the down pour, but the other half...let's just say they got a very interesting welcome to Costa Rica.
3)Missing luggage and the search for it - The small group waited and waited for their luggage, but to no avail. Delta or American had lost it. To top it all off, the computers were down! They assured us that they would get us the luggage as soon as possible, but we are still waiting for them to fulfill that promise. We are still holding out hope for tomorrow.
4)Most luggage arrived and was tied on top of the bus, which we rode in like sardines, but pretty comfortably. - The luggage that did arrive (which was most of it) was taken out to a 25 passenger bus by some kind porters and hauled to the top. There they were covered with a tarp and some rope for the 2 1/2 hour trip to Samara. We all fit into the bus thankfully, but this type of bus, when everyone was in it, had not aisle. It's very interesting.
5)Our first experience with a Latin American supermarket...and our almost-first-experience with a Latin American Burger King. - There were some people in the large group who got to ride in 1st class. The rest of us poor peons, rode in coach and did not receive a lunch. 1st class did. While waiting for luggage, we decided that they would not be allowed to talk about the food that they ate in 1st class unless they wanted to pay a dollar each time. The rest of us, even though we may had eaten lavish, complimentary breakfasts, were ravenous! Our driver told us he could take us to a Burger King about an hour down the road. We told him no, that we wanted something more authentic, but he ended up taking us there anyway! We were very confused, but asked him to please take us to a supermarket, which he obligingly did.
6)Orientation at the school. - We got to the school, saw how beautiful it was, helped the driver take down all the luggage and learned about the rules.
7)Our examens - we were so dead that the instructor told us to go to our houses and sleep and come back tomorrow to do them. - After we learned the rules, we were to have our placement exams. After about 1/3 to 1/2 had gone through, the director came out and told us that the kids were so dead, they couldn't even think, so we should go home and sleep. Gratefully, we agreed.
8)Meeting our families - We then met our families. Everyone's is different so ask your kids about them! Sra. Hennig's and my family owns a restaurant. It's awesome to be able to eat in an outdoor restaurant everyday.
9)Another torrential downpour - which most of us navigated to have devotion. - We decided to meet for devotion, but about 5 mintues after the first group arrived, it started pouring. Again.
10)Rivers in the streets. - The rivers turned into rivers. Actual rivers. Many of the streets were dirt roads which had many holes and lakes. It was very wet, but at least it was a warm rain.
11)Our houses - Again, they're all different. It's best to describe them with pictures, but I'm having troubles uploading them. Hopefully they will be available soon!
12)Classes in the morning. - We were all divided up into groups of about 6 for classes. We spent 2 hours in class, then had a 20 minute coffee break, and then continued for another hour and 40 minutes.
13)Our bank and supermarket trip - During lunch, many of us had to go to the bank to exchange money. We had fun navigating the metal detector that would only hold one person in a glass case. I'll try to get a picture of that in the next few days. We then headed to the supermarket to buy some food and others headed to buy bathing suits (since theirs were still lost). We had to get ready to go...
14)SURFING!!! (Be careful - it will hit you in the face...) - Our instructor had a favorite line. It went something like this:
Don't...or else it will hit you in the face.
Make sure you...or else it will hit you in the face.
If you do...it will hit you in the face.
Get the picture? The kids loved him - he was a great teacher. And he spoke in English so that they understood all the safety rules.
We had fun trying to get up. Most if not all of us got up and actually surfed even if it was only for a few seconds (I think my record was about 5 seconds...)
15)Hurry up to get to dance class! - We realized that our schedule had changed and that we had dance class in a few minutes. We quickly rinsed off in the tree (yes, there was a shower IN a tree) and changed and got to dance class where we learned how to dance the merengue. We learned 3 steps. Since there were only 6 boys, some of the girls had to be the boys as well. They looked great dancing! It was fun to see them trying it out and getting the steps down and actually dancing to some merengue music.
16)And finally going home to eat before a beach bonfire tonight!
- We left and ate supper with our families before having a beach bonfire. Unfortunately it was raining (again), but we had a "grill" fire instead! The school provided delicious marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers (Costa Rican style of course) to make s'mores. The kids had a great time just winding down and talking about the day's experiences as well as the devotion. All in all, a successful day full of activity.

Well, I am off to get some homework done and then SLEEP! We have a physical day in front of us tomorrow with kayaking in the morning and soccer at night, with a little class sandwiched between them. Blessings to all of you tonight and tomorrow!