When I left the San Jose, California airport and embarked on my long trip down to CR, I had many HOLY SHIT moments, where I questioned my decision to take on this little adventure! This stint abroad has been in the works for about a year, and until last Sunday, was sort of just something that was going to happen in the future. Let me tell you, it became very real when I landed in a foreign country and made my way through the streets of San Jose Costa Rica to my hotel. Fortunately, traveling here was a breeze: all my flights were on time and customs/immigration was easy peasy. There were a few moments when I got a little scared on my cab ride to the hotel because, as the driver explained, we were not going through very good areas. He identified a few ladies we passed as "gang members" but they looked more like prostitutes, and that's probably what they were (apparently prostitution is pretty common here).
My Hotel
When I asked for suggestions about where to stay on my first night in Costa Rica, my then program coordinator Emily recommended Hotel Aranjuez, so that's obviously where I booked my room. I instantly liked the hotel; the room was large, had it's own bathroom, and was super cheap (only $35/night!)! All great qualities to have for my first night in a foreign country. I didn't sleep so well my first night in Costa Rica because I was so nervous about my upcoming week of training and about this little adventure I had embarked on. Still, the next morning, I packed up my approximately 150 lbs of luggae (don't judge - I'm going to be here SIX months! That equals three suitcases and a backpack btw), dragged it all out to the reception area (lots of random stairs up and down...ei yi yi) and when I got to the check-in area, asked the man behind the desk how to get to the Aliarse office (the location of the EVOLC office and where my training would take place). Turns out, it was only about 6 blocks away, so he started to draw directions on a map. I had to interrupt him half way through to request a cab, because let's be honest, I wasn't about to lug all that luggage through a town I didn't know. I'd for sure get lost! When he saw all my luggage, he sort of looked at me like I was a super crazy girl, and called the cab.
Long story short, when I arrived at the "third white building in the Parque de Francia" (which was only a $1 cab ride! Woo Hoo!), I had some assistance lugging all my crap up the flight of stairs to the office, only to find out I would be staying at Hotel Aranjuez all week. So, at the end of my first day of training, I got to lug all my stuff back to the Hotel! Of course, I was put in a different room and there was a different guy at the front desk. The room I stayed in the rest of the week was much smaller (for a single person) with a bathroom I shared with about three other rooms. Hotel Aranjuez was cool because it was somewhere between a nice cute hotel/bed and breakfast and a hostel. I really liked the feel of the place and it was in a great location. By the time my week of training was over, I definitely didn't want to leave.
Here's a picture of one room in the Hotel; where I planned my first lesson plan!!
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