Last night we arrived in Costa Rica after a long day of travel. It was great to finally meet my host mom and experience a glimpse of Costa Rican household life. I enjoyed getting the chance to practice speaking Spanish and learning how to improve my skills. Immediately, I felt welcomed here thanks to the warm and friendly nature of my host mom and her cooking as well as the climate, which is much warmer than Pittsburgh. 

This morning, my host mom made me and my roommate Melissa a delicious breakfast. I especially enjoyed the gallo pinto and scrambled eggs, and found it interesting to try other foods such as plantains and papaya. For our first day we explored Heredia by first doing a walking tour around the city and various places such as the park in the town center as well as the local market. It was really cool to finally walk around the streets and take in the new setting. Coming in, I thought Costa Rican culture would be pretty friendly but it exceeded my expectations because all of the people were really friendly and kept wanting to say hi and welcome us. 

After walking around Heredia we ate lunch together at a restaurant. In particular I enjoyed the fresh strawberry juice, which was refreshing after walking around in the heat all morning, and my main dish which was arroz con camarones, rice with shrimp. Then, we went to the mall and walked around a little, and it was interesting to see and compare what a mall looks like in Costa Rica, with stores, movie theaters, and other activities, compared to the standard US shopping mall. Overall, today was a really cool first day here in Costa Rica and I am really looking forward to tomorrow’s activities!