I can’t say I held many expectations coming into mCosta Rica, but I am pleasantly surprised. Arriving at the airport, I was a little bit nervous to be immersed in a Spanish speaking country. However, I was much more comfortable after getting to know the people I was traveling with. I don’t see myself typically as a very outgoing and social person, but my colleagues seem to bring out that side of me. I feel like I have already learned and experienced so much today, but one of the best parts of my stay so far was definitely the food. Starting off with breakfast today, we had fresh fruit, coffee, eggs, and gallo pinto. All of it was amazing, especially after lots of travel the previous day. Our tour guide, Javier, brought us mamoncillo, known also as the Spanish lime. These fruits were similar to Rambutans in that they had an outer shell with a sweet inner portion containing a seed. They were delicious and seemed like a perfect substitute for candy, tasting almost like grapes. I had a goal to try new food before I came here, but I wasn’t sure how much variety to expect. After this first day, I knew that there will be plenty of new food to try.

Speaking of candy, on our tour throughout Heredia, Professor Teeter brought along guava candy for us to try. Tasting these chocolatey sweets made me wish we had them in the US. We then came upon a small plaza with a church and later the central market where we explored on our own. This little market with food vendors everywhere was bustling with people. It was something I didn’t really expect but just made sense to be there. My little group and I bought a bag of starfruit which we had saved for later as we were soon to head out for lunch. I have had starfruit once before, but I just had to try it again.

Our lunch was something I think I would have expected from a country like Costa Rica. Very good food, but also a familiar style of food as we had a variety of meats and some corn. We then visited one of the most impressive malls in my life. After touring downtown and seeing the infrastructure of Heredia, I figured the mall wouldn’t be so impressive, but I was blown away as Javier led us up to the outdoor section on the roof. Never have I seen such a unique mall.

Overall, I suppose I can say my expectations were exceeded, especially with the food. I feel like I now know what to expect further on in the trip, but it is still the first day, so I’m still preparing for whatever comes my way.