Finally arrived in Costa Rica!  Customs were way too easy which kind of surprised me so I was in and out of the airport with my baggage in 20 minutes!  After the airport we then traveled through the city of San Jose trying to get through the masses of cars on a busy Saturday.  We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Don Carlos which was a very nice and had a lot of old architecture and pretty fountains. 

After traveling all day it was time for lunch!  We stopped at a local restaurant that had a choice of 5 different items depending on the day and the entire menu was in Spanish.  I ordered this chicken dish that also came with rice, beans and a small salad.  The food isn’t too bad!  While sitting at lunch we learned that every meal, including breakfast, comes with rice and beans. I guess I will be consuming a lot of rice and beans during my stay!  We also learned that the waiter will not bring you your check unless you ask for it.  In Costa Rica it is rude to leave a check on the table because it gives the sense that the restaurant is kicking you out.

We then began to wander through San Jose to have a little taste of the downtown lifestyle.  None of the streets have signs that are large enough to read and so people base their directions off of 2 main roads…I am for sure going to get lost.  Walking though downtown we reach a plaza, which reminds me of Union Square in San Francisco that is surrounded by shops, restaurants, and lots of street vendors.  Street vending is illegal in Costa Rica and all of the vendors have a quick system to pick up their blankets full of items and run off without getting caught.  San Jose has sooo many coffee and ice cream shops; the Costa Ricans love their caffeine and sweets.  We stopped at a famous Costa Rican ice cream shop called “Pops” and had a scoop later on in the afternoon and it was delicious!  Our director insisted we buy a Spanish to English dictionary and an umbrella- apparently these are the 2 must haves for tourists.  After a long day we have a mini orientation to go over emergency contacts, expectations and our 2 month schedule and then its off to bed for a good nights sleep.  Im not a fan of red eye flights and so I was definitely sleep deprived. Buenas noches!