Nine days suddenly seems much too short

It's only a little over a week until I hop on a plane to leave the good old U S of A. For months now I have been trying to get ready for this. I've written list after list of things I need to do. Paperwork lists, financial aid lists, things to buy lists, things to pack lists. Hell, I've written lists about the lists I still needed to write. And I've crossed everything except packing off. But I'm starting to run out of lists to write which is why I am now starting to freak myself out. I don't know how to prepare for five weeks in Costa Rica because I've never spent five weeks in Costa Rica. And the country doesn't come with instructions.

Although I have a rough itinerary of where I will be when, I do not have a handy guide on what to expect day to day. (Day One - Terrified and won't understand a word being said. Day Five - Find a friend. Day Thirteen - Get sick from the water. Day Thirty One - Ace the final) I have been working on studying abroad in Costa Rica for over six months, but once I get there I am going to have to let go of my lists and wing it.

This is going to be interesting.

Itinerary

Travel

Arrive in San José. Meet host families.

Sat. 07/02

Orientation

Orientation at ISA main office.

Sun. 07/03

Orientation

Placement Test and Orientation at Veritas

Mon. 07/04

Classes

Spanish Language Classes begin.

Tue. 07/05

Excursion

Excursion to Playa Tamarindo. 

Fri. 07/08 - Sun. 07/10

Excursion

Excursion to Arenal Volcano and La Fortuna Waterfall. 

Fri. 07/15 - Sun. 07/17

Excursion

Excursion to Monteverde Cloud Forest. 

Fri. 07/22 - Sun. 07/24

Travel

Return to United States.                                                                     

Sat. 08/06

Adding on to the last post

So I was talking today on Facebook to someone from my program who went to San Jose early to volunteer before classes start. He was kind enough to share some advice on packing and host families but he also let me know that shipping anything to Costa Rica is a total pain in the butt! A guy down there with him thought it would be a good idea to ship some of his stuff instead of bringing it on the plane. Terrible Idea! Expensive Idea! He had a cd case with over a hundred dvd's in it and they levied a dollar per movie import tax on him. YIKES!!!


Yup, no care packages for me!

Sending letters and packages!

So packages might be a little unrealistic considering the fact that I will only be gone for 5 weeks but if anyone wants to send me a letter here is the information ISA sent me. ^_^


For letters, address them like this:

Brittany Stewart Y/O ISA

P.O. Box # 101-2010 

Zapote, San José 

Costa Rica, Centroamérica

For packages mailed through UPS, Fedex or any other non- USPS companies that require a physical address (not a PO Box) use the following address:

Brittany Stewart /ISA 

75 m al norte del Parque de los Mangos 

Edificio amarillo de 3 pisos 

Zapote, San José 

Costa Rica, Centroamérica

They also sent me page after page of information about what to send and what not to. But to shorten it up, don't send me drugs, don't insure stuff for outrageous amounts since I will be taxed on the amount it was insured for and don't describe items in complicated terms since the custom agents might not be the best at English and will hold anything they don't understand. 

I absolutely love how the addresses in Costa Rica are like


75 meters north of Mango Park
The Yellow Building with 3 stories


No street names, no numbers. That is awesome!


But Oh My God is that going to be obnoxious once I'm there! 

21 days and counting!

I got my home-stay information yesterday. It made it seem a lot more real and a LOT closer. Three weeks is suddenly coming up quick!

I am getting a Tica Abuela! I will be living with a 79 year old lady named Rosalba, a family friend of hers named Alvaro who helps her out, and her 7 year old grandson Kevin visits frequently. Plus there will be two other students living there.

And get this, I am going to get a MAID!!!!!! She will cook two meals a day for me and do my laundry twice a week. WHOOOOO!

I will even get Wi-Fi. I don't have that set up here at home yet!

I might not come back!

Seriously.