El Empiezo!

Today I arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, where I will be spending the next five weeks of my life studying Spanish and Latin American culture. While flying over I was awestruck by the amount of greenery that covers these Central American countries. They are absolutely stunning and I know the secret to their success....LOTS OF RAIN! It has been raining here since 2:30 this afternoon and has yet to cease haha I think I may drown (not really).

After getting picked up at the airport, Bernadita dropped me off at my new house. My host mom is really nice her name is Mari and I met her daughter Paola & her baby, Valentina, upon my arrival. I was actually kind of freaking out because I have so many eating restrictions and such, but she is totally accommodating and keeps telling me to be tranquila (which I need). I have been crying a lot lately I think I am having early culture shock among other things. She keeps telling me that I am safe here and I am really going to like it...which is a relief. I feel that once I start school on Monday I will calm down and get into the groove of things. And I anticipate finding Chile to be much easier to deal with after the initial shock of Costa Rica has worn off.

Tomorrow morning I have orientation at the Universidad Latina here in San Jose. I look forward to finding out what I will be doing while here and how much work I will have each week. My Spanish is surprisingly coming back to me (Thank you Heavenly Father!) and I pray that I meet the people I am supposed to to help me grow and reach my full potential. I have already met some wonderful people, like David who was on his way to San Salvador to visit family from Long Beach, CA. We had a wonderful chat on the plane and he really inspired me and helped remind me that this is the Lord's will for me at this time.

I am going and doing the things I am supposed to and at this point in time I am unsure as to the reason, but one day I hope to be able to glean from my experiences wisdom to lift and strengthen others.