First days in Costa Rica

Sunday began with a lazy morning where many explored the grounds and some found some great photo opps (painted cow?). Our plan was to check out, eat at Denny's and then head to the airport to wait for our Colorado crew and catch the bus. Unfortunately our plans were thwarted by a crowded Denny's who refused us service. So we decided to venture to the airport earlier than planned and see if we could find some food there. We were in luck. We found a little airport restaurant outside and a little bit away from the huge throng of people meeting arrivals. There was even extra space for us to put our suitcases to the side and spread out a bit while we waited. And wait we did. Thankfully we occupied ourselves with a variety of activities, some of which I didn't even know the names of :) while playing the games, many passers by would stare as they walked by, comment or even strike up conversations - not because they were bothersome, but because they were genuinely interested in how the kids were keeping themselves occupied. It was pretty neat. We finally found the bus and the rest of our crew (who had endured a 12 overnight layover) and headed out toward Samara. We got to experience Latin American driving (with our luggage on top) through the hills and beauty of Gods creation. We made it to Samara in record time - only a little over 4 hours and that with a stop! Out host families came to pick us up and we spent the night getting to know our families and getting accustomed to the heat, humidity, and sounds. Morning came and brought with it unusual sounds like chickens, roosters, monkeys and birds cackling outside of our windows. We ate a nice big breakfast (typical breakfast usually includes gallo pinto) and we were off to go get tested. No paper and pencils - just a nice little conversation with an evaluator. After our tests we had orientation to learn about the school and town, with a little tour of the "downtown" area (about 3 square blocks). We learned of some good places to get lunch, buy souvenirs, exchange money, get coffee, buy school supplies, groceries and other necessities and basically just how to get around town. After that we had either 1 or 2 hours to go explore (depending on the group for cooking class) so we split up to go explore the town. We learned that there are approximately 100 or so students here this week, so there are lots of interesting people around an everyone is friendly and helpful. This town is used to tourists and students which is nice. Many went to check out the beach or get a cafecito. Then we had a cooking class where we learned to make Tortas de Yucca (like a thin yucca pancake) and eat them with cheese. After our cooking class we went to find some food to eat. A number of us took advantage of the 2 for 1 pizza deal at a pizzeria and had some delicious juice. We are all trying to get accustomed to the heat and humidity so it was a relief when the time for classes rolled around and we for to have class in air conditioned classrooms. We got a 20 minute break in the middle so we got to rest our brains for a bit. After school, some got to test out the waves and some explored a bit more around town before supper with our host families. Tomorrow we have classes in the morning and surfing in the afternoon. Hopefully the weather will continue to be wonderful and the sea not too terrible as we tackle this new experience :) I haven't gotten to an Internet cafe yet to upload pictures from my camera but I have put up a few on Facebook. Once I get to a computer, ill put them up and get you the link.