Costa Rica: Sacramento to Houston to San José, Costa Rica

Teatro Nacional: San José, Costa Rica
Mom and I in front of the cathedral in San José
The crew getting ready for departure from Houston

June 23 Sacramento to Houston to San José, Costa Rica

It seemed too good to be true that everyone showed up to the Sacramento International Airport on time, with their luggage, with their tour guide tips ready for collection as instructed. We even skidded around and avoided leaving one student behind ,Mike, as he had his dates mixed up, and made a zooming trip to the airport It was so smooth that when we got into line to do the Group Check In, that ease turned into panic as one student passed forward her Passport CARD instead of her passport. Unbenownst to her, the passport card is only good for entrance into Canada and México. Amidst several moments of panic, Judi’s friend Ellie called her brother to save the day. What ensued was pure luck. Ellie’s brother, not knowing Judith, and not knowing where she lives, found her house, found the passport in the house, hopped in his car and sped down the freeway heading south where the precious cargo was handed off to Ellie’s parents who were heading north on I-5. The handoff ocurred in Orland, where Ellie’s parents promptly turned around and headed back to the Sacramento Airport. At this point, time was ticking, and we were all nervously watching the clock wondering whether Judi’s dream trip was going to happen, or if it was going to turn into ¨the dream trip that was¨. By the grace of God, the flight was delayed one hour, which allowed Ellie’s pare¨n¨¨ts to hand off the passport, and for Ellie and Mary Lord to get checked in, and race upstairs in hopes that the plane had not left. We all breathed a sigh of relief as we saw the whites of their eyes, and we all realized that they whole group would be headed toward the PURA VIDA!!!! (Costa Rica’s national slogan literally meaning: “ Pure Life”)

A three and a half hour leg to the Houston Airport left us all hungry and of course, waiting in line at Starbucks; mostly just to waste time. After a two hour layover, we boarded Continental flight #1528 and headed toward our final destination of San José, Costa Rica. We arrived and were met by our EF Tour guide, Margel, at about noon Costa Rica time (one hour ahead of California time), and of course thunder showers. Due to the fact that Margel was awaiting another arrival, he took us to somewhere very familiar. The mall. This is every Spanish teacher’s desire, that her students’ first experience with Costa Rican culture is with Taco Bell, Burger King, and Pizza Hut in a Costa Rican mall. J Luckily after filling our bellies, we were whisked off to the city center, where we checked into our hotel, the Gran Hotel Costa Rica. The hotel is one of the oldest in the city, and is located ketty corner to the National Theatre, which iluminated the plaza as the nightime rolled in. After getting the students squared away with their rooms, we all bee lined to our beds to take a nap after sleeping very little on the red eye flight. The rooms were modest, and I respectufully headed to the roll a way bed in the corner, and offered the larger one to my mother. It was the least I could do; she came on this trip with me!

After a well deserved rest, we groggilly awoke, and set out to explore around our hotel. We strolled down the pedestrian street located directly behind our hotel. I would say that we partook in the evening ¨paseo,¨ but as one student pointed out, the Ticos (costa ricans) were walking at a very fast pace. This struck me as odd, as they are a self proclaimed relaxed people, that simply go with the flow. However, we were in the capital city, which was strikingly similar to all of the other capital cities in the world that I have visited. Después de visitar the cathedral, window shopping, and enjoyingly watching the students take funny pictures of themselves throughout the city, we returned to the hotel and got in the mile-long dinner line. As per typical costarican fashion, the dinner consisted of rice and black beans, a questionable (as per Mary) hamburger patty, green salad, and a delightful array of vegetables that required seconds by many of us. Before retiring for the evening, the adults headed downstairs and sipped on a costarican capucchino, and attempted to listen to piano music played in the hotel restaurant. To sum up the day, the beginning was forgetful, while the rest was a great introduction into what is to come in the next eight days.