Flying, Sitting, More Flying, and More Sitting.
I think the first day of this trip will be one of the hardest. I knew that it was coming, but hugging everyone at the airport before we went through security still left me needing to take deep breaths to avoid the waterworks.
We left Minneapolis at 5:45ish am (after getting up at 3am), and landed in Miami a little ahead of schedule. After waiting for our next flight out (it was delayed about an hour altogether), we were left on our own to go through the Costa Rican airport immigration, customs, and find the representative from SOL that was meeting us. Even after we landed, we waited for about another hour and a half for some more of our SOLmates (other students in our study abroad program). We finally gathered everyone up and loaded into a shuttle to drop us off with our Mama Ticas. We were the last ones to be dropped off, and by then we were hungry, jet-lagged, and ready to collapse into our beds.
Our Mama Tica is fantastic! She has hosted over 30 students in her home, and she clearly knows what she's doing. Right away, we were greeted with a hug, un besito en la cara (little welcome kiss on the cheek), and "Bienvenidas niñas!" She knew our names from the moment we stepped out of the van, and asked us how hungry we were so that she could prepare a little dinner for us. We went up to our room to do a little unpacking before sitting down with her to eat and chat a little bit. She knew how tired we were, and told us to take the night to relax. Right now it looks like it will be easy to relax, especially on our balcony that overlooks the city and the mountains in the distance.
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