I've Arrived!

I'm Here in Liberia, Costa Rica! 

Oh my gosh, this is unreal. Just three days ago, I was arguing with my mum about what to take and what not to take to Costa Rica, and now, I'm actually here, in Liberia, with all my things unpacked. Here's a little bit about the past 3 days!

I arrived in San Jose on Friday around midday with around 9 other students from the USA. We were the first to get to the orientation site out of all the foreign students that were coming to Costa Rica. Eventually everyone arrived, making all the different nationalities known. The students came from all around the world: Germany, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Hungary, and lastly, the USA. What amazed me, was that all of the European and Japanese students spoke fluent English. The whole camp was held in English and apparently the next orientation (which will be in 2 months) will be held only in Spanish. I can't wait to see if I am able to fully understand the language by then.
Moving on... the orientation lasted the whole day on Saturday and it went over what school will be like, how our families may be, warnings about sexual abuse and many other different things. I met many people, all from the different countries mentioned.  

On Sunday morning, we were all told to put our bags by the selected bus for our province. Liberia is in Guanacaste and so I was on the Guanacaste bus. None of the people on my bus were from the US, and only two of the students were also going to Liberia. One was Swiss and the other was German. I learnt during the bus ride that the Swiss is here for one year, while the German is here for 5 months, like me. Niether of them speak any Spanish whatsoever.
Once we arrived in Liberia, I met another Swiss girl who has been here for 6 months, leaving in June. She said she was already fluent in Spanish after 3 months.

Speaking of the language, I've realized I hardly know any Spanish at all. They speak so fast, making all  phrases sound like one word. My favorite sentences right now are: "Despacio, por favor" and "No entiende" (slower, please and i don't understand). My host family is very accepting and extremely kind. My host sister is fluent in English which helps a lot, but I'm afraid of her helping too much. I'm keen on being fluent in Spanish and I feel her helping too much will affect my ability to learn from my mistakes. 

I start school soon! I think I may be starting next Monday. The Swiss girl goes to the same school and she said the work is incredibly easy, with no homework which makes more time for the beach! 

I went out today with my host mum, driving around Liberia. It's a beautiful place and seems very touristy! There is a mall, a McDonalds, a PizzaHut, and a Pappa Johns! It seems very Americanized but   it's also very Costa Rican! The roads are bumpy and horses are everywhere, I even saw two in a school's backyard. The people are incredibly friendly and it's the streets are constantly buzzing. There are many schools, probably at least one on every road. Two universities are here, the Nacional Universidad and the Universidad o Costa Rica. They are both pretty and the UCR has absolutely amazing sports facilities, with a gorgeous lap pool and futbol fields. I think hardly anybody uses them as my host mum told me that sports aren't very popular in Liberia. There is a stadium and everything but my school only has basketball, volleyball, and rugby I believe. I think I'm going to try and play volleyball.

Overall, Liberia seems like an magnificent place and I'm very excited to be a part of the town. I'll be writing again soon! I have some pictures of my trip so far, attached...   

Oh and it's super hot and humid out too!! I already have a tan kinda. ;)... More like sunburn. 

Thank you for reading!