arrival

well, here I am. Today the temperature is about 90 and the sun, as always, blazes down. I havent left the San Jose/Alajuela area yet, but this part of Costa Rica is lovely. On the way to school everyday, the bus takes us through the sugarcane fields where the men work with their machetes. My apartment is surrounded by palm trees, bougainvillia and wysteria.

I am settling in well, but must contend always with my own lack of Spanish. And so many things I take for granted at home dont work the same way here. Its funny to bump up against my own expectations. I can do the internet from this cafe, but my house is really about ten minutes from town and so must take the bus or taxi in to even check email.

I am homesick, but not too much. It helps to talk to Maggie and Mike every night, though that can{t continue for the whole visit.

more soon.