Pura Vida!

       To think that just over 24 hours ago I was sitting in Boulder, CO thousands of miles away and wishing I had a sweatshirt on.. Seems like an entirely different world from the one I am in now, sitting in the heart of San Jose, Costa Rica overlooking a landscape of red-tiled houses interspersed

View from the Hotel

Blogging in the Courtyard

with dense greenery and trees. The air is thick with humidity and seems to cling to your skin, and the air smells sweet, almost like the smell of rain in spring. I am currently in the courtyard of my hotel, which is open to the sky, and shielded on all sides from the commotion of the city outside. But, enough of the now, let's rewind 28 hours and take a look at the events that brought me here!
        After taking a red-eye flight from Denver, I arrived in Miami at around 7AM. I then meandered around the airport for several hours before meeting up with my ARCC group at the baggage claim. I met my two group leaders, and the other 10 participants in this GAP semester (seven girls and three boys). One of the boys, Spirit, graduated highschool at 16, while another, Brett, is taking a GAP year before attending Harvard. All of the participants have varying reasons for taking a GAP year, from wanting to get travel experience, to gaining independence, or even for using the time for reflection and self-improvement. After departing Miami, we flew to San Jose, with a stop in San Salvador. Arriving in San Jose at around 10 PM, our group loaded onto a bus, which shuttled us to our hotel. In spite of it being nearly midnight, I rallied Spirit and Brett into doing some exercises with me out by the courtyard. All three of us went outside and did several sets of pushups, sit-ups, and pull-ups from the beams in the roof. We made a

Exercise Routine

pact to do similar exercises throughout our trip, and we will see how that attempt goes!
          Anyway, I slept like a rock, woke up to some delicious Costa Rican coffee, and began this blog. It has been a rather intermittent process, and since the beginning of this blog I have gone on a 3 mile run with Brett through the streets of San Jose, purchased a disposable phone, and gotten a few hearty laughs from my book "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". If any of you have not read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I recommend you do so IMMEDIATELY as it is one of the funniest and most enjoyable books I have ever read! I broke out into random fits of giggling countless times while reading it in the airport and on the plane; drawing curious stares from my fellow GAP participants and random strangers... However, if you are okay with laughing uncontrollably (and being stared at) then you can't go wrong with this book. Anyway, tomorrow at 6AM we are heading to the Pacuare River to begin a week-long rafting trip before beginning a service project. Should be a blast, and I will update you once I return! Hasta la vista!

Bus Ride to the Hotel With Meredith!

Ghosts unloading our bus..

The impervious circle of girls..