Today was our first full day in Costa Rica. We started the day with breakfast at our homestay, and as expected, we were served gallo pinto. Along with the gallo pinto, we enjoyed coconut and avocado. Next, it was time for the walking tour of Heredia. The weather was beautiful, and it was a perfect day for the walking tour. Aside from the stunning architecture and plant life, I learned a lot that I wouldn’t have expected about Costa Rica. Some of the things I found most interesting were the street labeling system with the odd block numbering from North-South, East-West in the city, the idea that all of the architecture is intentional and practical to prevent damage from weather and earthquakes, and that Heredia is called the ciudad de las flores (city of flowers) but is actually named after president Alfredo Gonzalez Flores. I definitely didn’t expect the mall to be so similar to ours back home in terms of stores and I certainly didn’t expect the giant, gaping entrance and beautiful views on top of the mall.

I expected to mostly enjoy just exploring and traveling around Costa Rica, which I have greatly enjoyed. However, I also deeply enjoyed spending time with my host family, not that I didn’t expect to enjoy their company, I just thought it may be more difficult due to language or cultural barriers, and I was happily proven wrong. We spent time walking around the neighborhood and playing at local parks with the two kids, Daniel and Kevin, along with playing games and having dinner with the whole family last night, and we went to the market together to buy fruit this morning. I have deeply enjoyed my time in Costa Rica so far and look forward to the rest of the trip.