Day 1: Orientation in San Jose

First and foremost, I made it here safely and with all my luggage despite American Airlines switching planes on us three time, resulting in a two hour delay. There were 3 other girls on my flight, so luckily I wasn't the last one in. We finally got to the hotel around 1 AM. The best part was our taxi driver playing "Sandstorm" during the ride to the hotel. I didn't get much sleep (Costa Ricans are obsessed with honking their car horns), and was up at 6:15 to shower before going to get breakfast at 7 AM. I had a breakfast of fruit, but not enough to fill me up for the day. Oh and LOTS of coffee.

Orientation started at 8 AM. We basically just got an introduction to the country and what our trip itinerary is. Turns out our first camping trip is going to quite luxurious--they hired people to carry around our luggage AND cook for us so we can "focus on the biology." Excellent. My Professor and TAs are all really nice. On Friday we leave for a 2.5 week pacific coastal trip, ALL the way up the entire coast. should be interesting. Then we head back to the station in Monteverde for 2.5 weeks. And then I can't remember what happens. Homestay maybe? Atlantic coastal trip and Panama? They're both in there somewhere.

After orientation we got our first homework assignment. We were each given 1,000 colones (about $2) to go to the market and buy and assigned fruit. It was really hard talking in Spanish, but Costa Ricans are really understanding of tourists and love Americans. We had to find out from the vendors about the item we bought, such as when it's in season, where it's grown, how it's prepared, etc. We got a little time to walk around San Jose too, but none of the streets have street signs so we didn't venture too far.

After the market we all met up back at the hotel to head to the botanical gardens. We had a lunch of empanadas, roast chicken, and salad. After lunch, we started "class." We are starting some basic botany stuff, which was all review to me thanks to Bot 130 (who would have thought that class would come in handy?!). After some introductions, we got a little time to walk around the gardens. There were some really pretty orchids, and it felt like we were walking through the rainforest. We then met up as a group, and shared our knowledge of the fruit we learned about in the market. Some fruits need to be cooked before eaten, weird! And Cashews are actually fruit. And if you're allergic to poison ivy, you might be allergic to the fleshy covering of the cashew. Of course they told me this after I picked it up. We then split up into groups and got to cut into a bunch of fruit and ate it. We were supposed to be learning about the different types of fruit and how they're classified, but we mostly just ate. It was delicious.

We are now back at the hotel for some downtime before dinner at 6:45. Later tonight our TAs are taking us out to the bar. Yes, this is mandatory, ha. Costa Rica plays the Honduras in soccer tonight, and we're all hoping we can watch the game. We remain in San Jose until Friday morning, when we leave sharply at 8 AM for our first field trip. I'll have internet while in San Jose, but not during the field trip. Ok, that's enough for now. I'll write at least once more before leaving for the fieldtrip. Miss everyone!