So first off I am sorry I haven't blogged in a while-so let me catch you up on my enitre week. On Friday me and the people from AFS-USA arrived in Costa Rica at 9. The plane only took about 2/3 hours which was good, but it was dark out so we couldn't exactly see anything outside.......! Then we went to our orientation and stayed at the cutest little "hotel" type thing. More like a really nice camp because there were cabins. I got lucky and shared a cabin with 3 other girls. We all had our own room with our own bathroom-including a shower in each bathroom! Some other people weren't so lucky-they had to stay in a cabin that was a bit like a dorm-bunkbeds everywhere and one big bathroom! It was about 20 girls or so in those cabins, so I am really glad I lucked out!! So on Saturday we had our entire orientation and let me tell you it.was.so.long. We didn't exactly have any breaks, so everyone was exausted! But then came Sunday and we packed up and I left for Puriscal with a few other students living there as well! It is about an hour drive so I was able to see the beautiful country, and it was gorgeous! I finally met my family and they are so great! My mami, Isabel, and my papi, Rafael, own a hotel, or cabanas! They are very nice and caring and my mother's personality reminds me so much of my grandma back in Washington! Then my hermana, Lupe who is so fun, and my hermano Rafa who is in college so I only see him once in a while! I really do like it here it is beautiful and many people come to the house so it isn't very lonely-only in the mornings. On Wednesday I went to the beach with my mami and hermana and went surfing!!! That had to be one of the best feelings in the entire world! SO much fun!! And then on Thursday, it was my first day of school, which went very well. I made many friends and actually went back to one of thier houses after school to watch a movie with them. However, Thursday was a rocky day because it was my sister, Josie's birthday-she just turned 8. I have realized this is going to be really hard, and I need to be able to keep my confidence up and my courage strong, or else I will be living a really sad life here-and I don't want that. So now I am trying to involve myself as much as possible and do things so I can expierence the culture. There are some things that are a bit...odd here and things I miss about the USA, things people wouldn't really understand unless they were here. Like when we use the bathroom....you can't flush toilet paper, you have to throw it in the trash. That is just one example......I'll give more later haha! Also the American culture greatly influences Costa Rica, from what I have seen so far! Of course, you can never run from McDonalds, no matter where you go. And there is a lot of American pop music. So tomorrow I am going ziplineing which should be a blast! And yeah....thats my week in the smallest summary possible! Adios and I will try to post again soon