We started our morning at Hopkins at 3:45 AM. The students arrived in their Rustic Pathways t-shirts and we patiently waited in line to check our bags and get through security. We were very happy to find that all of the restaurants were open by the time we got through. The flight to Baltimore was just under an hour and we didn't have to sprint across the airport for a different concourse or a flight on it's way out- a nice change of pace from previous trips.
The flight into San Jose went pretty quickly. There was a lot of turbulence the first hour, but most of the students slept through it. There was another student group on our flight and we were all able to entertain ourselves in the back of the plane.
The students did a great job through customs and immigration. There was a little miscommunication about paperwork, but it all worked out and all the bags arrived, so no worries! We walked out of airport and met our Rustic Pathways representatives: Maricruz (one of the country directors- she collected our passports and sent the arrival e-mail home to parents), Marco (our bus driver), and Eva & Adrian (our guides for the next 10 days). Once on the bus, we went over the rules, some different facts about Costa Rica, and learned more about our guides. Both Eva and Adrian are native Costa Ricans, or "Ticos." Eva is from San Jose and Adrian is from Cartago. They both studied tourism at University and have been working with Rustic for several years. They taught the students about the "pura vida lifestyle" and have great energy.
Instead of stopping along the highway, we decided to ride an hour and a half to Jaco for lunch. Jaco is a very popular tourist destination, as it is the closest beach for anyone flying in to San Jose. Eva was telling us the entire way how good the tacos and smoothies are at Tacobar, and it did not disappoint. One of the coolest parts of lunch was when 3 scarlet macaws flew right over our heads. They are protected in Costa Rica and Adrian said that was only the second time he had seen them when he was with a Rustic group.
With full stomachs, we stopped at MaxiPali (basically a Wal-Mart/Sam's Club type store) to get drinks and snacks for the hotel. Some students stuck to home staples: Oreos, Lucky Charms, Crush, etc. Others ventured and tried some of the Costa Rican snacks like my personal favorite, Trits (the most amazing ice cream sandwich in the world. No exaggeration).
The bus ride back down the coast was a long one. The views were great, but it is a single lane road with a lot of traffic- lots of buses and trucks to get stuck behind. The afternoon storms started to roll in off the ocean, so the rain slowed us down a little more. The students kept themselves entertained with games like "Mafia," "Down by the Banks," and others. Then the rain made everyone sleepy and most of us slept from Quepos all the way into Uvita.
We are at Luz de Luna/La Fogata again this year. The students are getting settled into their rooms, then doing one-on-one interviews with our guides before dinner. Several of them have asked about watching the Cavs this evening, but I'm not sure that we're going to be able to get the game here... we will see. Maybe it will be good luck that we're all out of the country?
After dinner, we'll get our agenda for tomorrow- we will find out if we surf in the morning or afternoon and what our community service project will be. The bug spray is already out and students are already getting acquainted with mosquitoes, roaches, and geckos :) All are tired, but very happy, and hoping the storms go away so they can swim in the pool.
Until tomorrow... pura vida! And go Cavs!
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