I'm hoooooooooooooome!

Heellooooo!

Yesterday, my brother informed me that I hadn't written to tell you all that I am home safe, after 9 weeks.  I'm hoping that all of you out there reading this know, but for those who don't, I'M HOME!

It's been a week since I left.  I can't believe it's only been a week.  It seems like a long time ago that I was there, which somehow makes me miss it more.  Last Monday, I woke up at 6 and ate breakfast like any other day.  My mom gave me a gift, which she insisted go directly into my checked baggage for me to open when I got home.  And then, I got all my bags together, and my mom helped me carry them to the bus stop.  On the way out, my dad gave me a HUGE hug and a kiss on the cheek, telling me I was welcome there any time I like.  Then, the Ciruelas crew, minus Rebecca, waited for the bus with our mom's by our side.  My mom gave me at least three hugs and said goodbye. I wasn't nearly as sad as some people (who were crying on the bus), but I was sad to leave my adventure.  The bus ride seemed to be too short as I was looking at the mountains as we drove, and we arrived at the airport. There, we went through security and all that jazz and waited for our flight. We found out that the flight was delayed for a while, so we all sat together and tried not to be sad.

When it was time to board the plane, we had to take a bus to one of those trucks with stairs on it (like in Arrested Development) to board the plane.  We landed in Houston, and everyone was waaaaay too excited to be home.  We all were shouting, "WE LOVE AMERICA!". Saying things like, why isn't the national anthem playing when you get off the plane?! We loved that we could read everything. The security guard said "Welcome Home." to me, and I wanted to hug him.  It was a little insane. People were starving so we tried to find some food, and by the time we got to our terminal, it was time to go! We said our goodbyes to the Kansas City folk and boarded.  The flight seemed short. We were all so excited. When we landed, we all clapped.  The other people probably hated us, but we were lovin' it. When we got off the flight, we all were so excited and moved to baggage claim pretty quickly.  There, I was surprised by my awesome brother and sister in law and my nephews!! It was such a great surprise.

Saying good bye at the baggage claim.

After I got my bags, we said goodbye to my friends and went to find my parents.  Then we decided to go to Imo's where my other brohan met us.  I was incredibly happy to be home (and drinking a mountain dew :)!)

This week has been bittersweet. I'm so happy to be home and to have seen everyone I love.  I am totally enjoying being able to communicate with people so easily, but I miss seeing everyone from our group. Luckily, I know that we will all be reunited in Kirksville soon. So everyone, my BIG adventure is complete.  I've learned so much about myself and seen so many wonderful places. I am so grateful to have had this experience, and I'm so happy that I could share it all with you. Thank you all for being there for me when I needed it and loving me from so far away...(but still giving me enough space to truly enjoy it.) I can't wait to see what's next for me. Love you all very much!

And now on to the next adventure :)

The last "big" trip!

Let me just start out by saying that this weekend was nothing like I had expected, but somehow, it was still fantastic! We were supposed to stay at this GORGEOUS hotel, but the shareholders apparently are more important and our reservation got misplaced. Luckily, the owner loves Vera and made a deal with another hotel down the road to let us stay there and eat breakfast and do everything else at the better hotel. It was kind of a pain, but TOTALLY worth the ten minute walk. We also were supposed to go on a sunset boat cruise and go snorkeling…but it was raining too hard on Sunday so that got cancelled as well…

Other than those minor problems and some people complaining about it, this trip was fantastic! I couldn’t believe that the owner still let us use his facilities because it was literally the nicest place I’ve ever been. The pool and hot tub over looked the ocean and the most beautiful view ever.  The restaurant where we ate lunch and dinner overlooked the same view so we could even see the sunset while eating.  It was incredible.  The beach was gorgeous and full of people.  We got to stay in rooms with people of our choice this trip and didn’t have to write a single composition all weekend…aka so much time to relax! Everyday (minus rainy Sunday) was spent at the beach or the pool.  One day, we even attended water aerobics, which was way more difficult than people like to lead on.  I even found Mountain Dew in the supermarket near the beach.  It was glorious.  On Sunday, we went to the beach until lunch and that’s when it started pouring. Afterwards, we headed back to our room and a Harry Potter movie marathon was on so we watched that.  All in all, I’d say this was the trip that was most like a vacation.  We lounged in the sun, hung out, and had sleepovers at night J

Today, we had our last school final.  We had to sit in our huge group and talk about questions over Costa Rica that Vera had given us on the bus last night before we went home.  Most of them were about the culture or socioeconomic status of the country.  My question was about what I thought about the women of Costa Rica and if they have as many opportunities as we do in the United States.  I think I did a pretty good job, but we shall see when we get our final grades on Friday.

Tomorrow, we are going to Ojo Azul which is a waterpark in Alajuela.  Later that night, we have our goodbye party with our families.  It’s nuts to believe that this trip is almost over.  When I got here, I never thought this day would come..but now I don’t want it to go away.  On Saturday, we have our last trip to Volcán Poas.  We are planning to try to make the best out of our last bus ride together.  I think we are all feeling the same way: not wanting to leave each other or this country, but so anxious to see our families at home since that is our next “big trip”. 

I can’t wait to see all of you! Love you so much :)

Hello!!

Yesterday was amazing! We only had class until 11 and then Vera took us to San Jose to visit el Teatro Nacional.  It was soooooo gorgeous! The architecture was incredible and the art was so beautiful.  We got to see a performance of four men playing guitars.  They were so good! They played some “classical” Costa Rican songs.  Vera sat next to me and was adorable the entire time.  She kept leaning over and whispering about the songs to me! Afterwards, she was like so did you like it?! Afterwards, we got to look around San Jose for a bit…where I found a bootleg version of Cars 2 in spanish for 2 dolla HOLLLAAAA.  I seriously could not be more excited for this purchase! About twenty minutes later, the bus came to pick us up to take us home.  Brittany, Miguel, and I decided to go to Taco Bell for a study session. It was AMAZING. They apparently have fries here at Taco Bell.  Aka, they make fries supreme instead of nachos supreme.  It was a delight. I’m totally going to tell someone in the States to start selling fries at Taco Bell. J

And today, it’s finals day.  The first ones are over. Not sure how they went. Currently at Mickey D's going to study very soon. 

Wish me luck!

P.S. I wanna fill you in on my family life a little since I haven’t really at all.  Mis padres have been so cute lately! The other day, my padre came to sit with me while I ate lunch and was asking how long it was until I was leaving.  He seemed so genuinely upset that we had so little time left together.  And my madre has been trying to teach me recipes of everything that she cooks!  The only issue is that she never tells me how much to put in anything…so I may just have to use my resources to try to make something similar! Also, my padre was talking to me about he’s upset that he isn’t supposed to use English with me because he could really use the practice. So he said, “Chiquita (the cutest term of endearment ever) next time you come, we are only going to speak to one another in English.” For some reason this made me smile so big! Also, my hermana is finally back from the States! She’s great! She keeps telling me about all these cool places to go in Alajuela…it’s really making me wish she was here the whole time, but that’s ok! Over all, I am really enjoying my time with them…but they definitely don’t compete with you guys.

12 days and I’m hoooome! Five of those glorious days will be spent on the beach in Condovac  starting on Friday, and I couldn’t be more excited! Last BIG trip of this wonderful adventure!

Love you all very much! 

Two weeks, say whaaaaat?!

Herrow derr!!

This weekend has been pretty amazing! On Friday, we went to see Cars 2 at the International Mall.  It was so great! I got some delicious caramel popcorn and a sodie.  The short for the movie was super great! And seeing it in spanish was hilarious. I can’t wait to go home and see it again ;)

On Saturday, we woke up and went to Cartago. There we saw the most BEAUTIFUL church. At the church, a miracle occurred very long ago.  The story was that a little girl was in the woods and found a doll.  She immediately grabbed it and took it home with her in a box, but later when she went to look for it, it was gone.  Later, she went back to the woods and the doll was there again.  She took it home, and the same thing happened.  She decided to try to give it to her priest to see what he thought.  Again it occurred with him.  

After this, it was decided that Mary was appearing to them telling the little girl that she wanted a church built in the woods where she kept appearing (where the church is today).  Pretty cool, huh?  We also got to see this really pretty park there!  It had a gorgeous building around a garden..All  pics below! 

After the church, we went to see the lookout point of Orosi.  It was gorgeous!!  We were on top of a valley! We were taking some fun pics!

On Sunday, we were supposed to have a Fourth of July party at the US Embassy.  Sadly, it was cancelled…but luckily, I have awesome friends here.  We decided to buy food to barbeque at a park in town.  There were only like 6 of us, but it was so great! We had hot dogs and corn on the cob and chips! Then, we went to a café to do homework since our finals are this week.

It’s officially 2 weeks until I am home.  Bittersweet, for sure.  I’m so excited to get home and see you all, but I can’t believe this adventure is almost over! See you all very soon! ;)

Our 4th of July group :)