Thursday's solo bus trip from Cañas to San José was uneventful, though Maritza worried about me so much.  Perhaps it was uneventful because she took such care in making sure that everything was arranged. I got off the bus at the airport and met up with other students arriving from all over the US.  In the end, there are probably over 150 students in the program, and I am pleased to know that I'm not the only old lady!  I am definitely not the only person who currently lives in Alabama because Auburn Universtiy has a HUGE presence here.  (There is one young man who proudly wears a different Alabama shirt every day.)

I am LOVING the cool weather here.  Though it has rained every afternoon, my clothes are no longer damp from the heat and humidity of Guanacaste, and I now remember why I packed jeans, a question I was asking myself while in Cañas.  Some people have complained about being cold, but I'm nowhere close to that: my bedroom window is still open.  And speaking of bedrooms, I feel that I must be one of the luckiest in the program with my living situation: three of us are staying in a big condominium only blocks from campus with Chacha, a sweet and generous woman who told us the first night that she wants to spoil us.  A divorcée, she has two grown children, and though she is financially fortunate, she was tired of coming home from work to a quiet house, so she's taking us in for the fun of it.  She and I have a few things in common: our bachelor's degrees are from Indianapolis (hers from IUPUI and mine from Butler).  She asked if I was a true Hoosier (a term the other students might not even know, let a lone a tica!), and when I said yes, she said, "Oh, I have goosebumps! My son is too!" And her daughter is currently working on post-doctorate work at Ohio State in Columbus, which is where my sister lives.  In fact, Chacha has a virtual phone number on an internet program called Magic Jack, so we can call anyone in the US for free from that internet phone.  It shows up as a Columbus number on caller ID, so it was a hoot for me to surprise my family with those calls.  -But Skype has been great to see them every night anyway.  Technology sure makes the world small, in a good way.

Yesterday we had a quick orientation about general knowledge things around the campus and city and host families.  Today was the orientation for the university with an introduction of the instructors and a tour of the campus.  Tomorrow I am going with others who paid extra for an excursion to the Poas volcano and waterfalls; I have to be out the door at 6:00 am, so I'll post a few pictures and sign off.  I expect to be tired after a long day tomorrow, and classes start tomorrow night, so I expect my posts to get shorter as I get busier.  My writing will probably come in the form of papers to turn in...

My first sloth-sighting, on the campus of UCR

A full house at orientation, with my sweet house-mates in the front.

Directors od MLSA in Costa Rica: Vickie, Nancy, Rodolfo, and Sarita