So I have arrived in Costa Rica!!! The last week passed by so quickly; it felt like time was slipping through my fingers like sand. I was busy running errands and packing, and spent as much time as possible with people at home. Last night, I still had some packing and other projects to finish up. I think I “went to bed” at 3:15 a.m., but my mom “woke me up” at 3:45 to go to the airport, so I really didn’t sleep at all. My flight left Des Moines at 6 a.m., so I I was in the airport around 4:45 to go through security and all that jazz.
I was so impressed with my packing skills before I left home! I had managed to pack everything I needed for 4 months into one checked bag, a small rolling carryon, and a backpack. I only accomplished this with the help of some amazing compression bags (found ‘em at Target, no vacuum required!). We tried to weigh the suitcase, but it was not working at all because my scale is much too small. We all knew that it was too heavy, but decided to pretend it would all be OK. Then we got to the airport and found out my bag was 15 lbs. overweight. WOW. So we moved a couple heavy books into my other suitcase and threw around a couple bras in the middle of the airport, but managed to make it 5 lbs. lighter (cuz we really didn’t want to pay the $50 overweight charge). The guy checking me in was like, “Ok, it’s better. I won’t charge you.” Sweet!
Then it was time for goodbyes and (obviously) tears on my part. My mom reminded me that this is an adventure to look forward to, and while it is sad it is also very exciting. So after hugs for my mom, dad, sister, and Josh, I went up the escalators to go through security. The whole security process was pretty harmless, except when I looked back and saw my family watching me to make sure I made it through. But then I was through security, and it was only 5 a.m.
I found my gate and sat down. The first thing I did was read a note from Josh, which of course made me cry. Then I composed myself and decided to eat some breakfast. I had a baggie of cereal, which I obviously spilled half of all over the floor. So I ate the other half and read for awhile, then went to the bathroom to give myself my insulin. They had started boarding, so I boarded the tiny plane (as in 2 seats on one side of the aisle and one on the other). The lady checking boarding passes just gave me a gate check tag, so I had to stop and take it off because I just didn’t have time to deal with that in Houston. So I found my itsy bitsy seat and but my water bottle and boarding passes down so I could put the rolling carryon-on into the overhead compartment. Of course the water bottle leaked all over my seat, so I had to put my coat over my chair to keep my butt from being soaked the whole flight (which still happened. Perfect). I did manage to catch some sleep that flight, though not much because it was so bumpy. The view from the clouds was amazing once the sun came up, and before I knew it I was in Houston. I booked it off the plane so I could make it to my next flight. We arrived in Houston at 8:35 at gate B60 and my next flight left at 9:10 from E17 (literally the furthest gate possible). But, I made it and spent that flight reading and writing this : ) The flight had some turbulence, but I felt much safer because 1) I was in a bigger plane 2) the captain gave us updates and 3) I was in the aisle, so I could pretend we weren’t thousands of feet in the air. I don’t really have a fear of flying, but the turbulence was making me a little nervous today. Unfortunately, the woman with the window seat kept the shades down, so I didn’t get to see much of that leg of my journey.
When I finally arrived in Costa Rica, I made my way off the plane and towards immigration/customs. On the way I saw a payphone and decided to call my parents to let them know I got here safely. It was possibly a mistake, because then I had to wait in an hour long line to go through immigration. When I finally got my bag and went through customs, I went out in front of the airport to try to find the person who was picking me up. Luckily, I found him pretty easily (he had a sign with my name on it just like in the movies). It was lucky I came then, because he told me that 5 more minutes and he would have left. I don’t even want to think about what I would do then. As we drove the 25 or so minutes to my house, I was amazed at the mountains rising just beyond the edge of the city. It’s beautiful. I am going to have to update you all on the rest later, because I have gotten about 6 hours of sleep in the past 2 days, so I’m going to crash. Yep, on New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can keep my eyes open to ring in the new year (and there’s not really anything big that I know of going on, so I’m not missing much).
Pura Vida!
