Beginnings!

After a successfully smooth day of travel, I arrived in Costa Rica Monday afternoon! Rain was streaking at the window as the plane touched down, reminding me that I am indeed here for rainy season (or kindly renamed to woo more tourists, the Green Season). But, looking out the window as we drove from the San José airport to the hotel we're staying at the first two nights, the landscape even around the city was so enticing...everything is so green! And the buildings are colored in playful hues--pastel reds, yellows, greens--that make US cities seem so monotonous, comparatively.

As more people from the program arrived at the hotel the first day we indulged in the Costa Rican delicacy of...Pizza Hut! Definitely a cultural lesson in reinforcing the reach of franchaise like that. And a lesson in how similarly one company can make pizza worldwide! But, we were reassured that we'd soon enter the world of rice and beans, where we will stay forever and always.

Today, we went to the OTS (Organization for Tropical Studies) headquarters in Costa Rica, which is on the research campus of the Universidad de Costa Rica in San Pedro.

OTS Costa Rica headquarters

Through a day of being oriented to our classes/schedule/life, we learned about the four classes we are undertaking during our 15 weeks here: Spanish (with a three week homestay) in San José, Enthobiology, Tropical Diseases and Public Health, and a Research Practicum. We took a mid-day break from learning about our upcoming learning and went on a walk to the main campus of the university. There, one of our professors showed up this awesome little waterfall, casually cascading, surreptitiously hidden among some university buildings.

Urban waterfall!

Building at the Universidad 

Spanish placement tests ensued, and we had a delicious dinner as a group with our three professors and teaching assistant. And I had one of those "everything I ever knew was a lie!" moments...apparently the meaning of a fajita isn't just to stuff all of those delicious accoutrements into a tortilla (as I discovered when I was given two tiny corn tortillas for a generous mound of toppings). Instead, in Spanish, faja means belt, and the word fajitas refer to the mini belts (the little strips) that the meat is cut into! #palabrapower #lifelessons

On a different note, in our group of 19, there are a few people very knowledgeable about yoga! So a bunch of us followed their lead, as they taught us some yoga in this open space on a terrace/roof area in the hotel. Not ever having done much yoga before, it was quite the experience to get my tree pose on while looking at all the trees and mountains surrounding the area in the distance among the city lights of the night!

We're heading to Las Cruces field station tomorrow in the southern part of the country. Very excited to see what the field station is actually like!