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Day 1:
Arrival in San Jose, Costa Rica
It was smooth traveling for the group. We left Ann Arbor around noon for the Detroit Metro Airport. It was a tight squeeze into a 15-passenger van and sedan with mountains of luggage and equipment. We made it safely, quickly unloaded and spent an hour checking our luggage and getting boarding passes. Next stop was a bite to eat and waiting to board the Boeing 737 airplane. The flight departed at 3 PM and it was a smooth flight to Houston. The flight attendant liked Ollie's size 16 boots! Amanda faired well and didn't get sick (She has a history of needing her barf bag.)
After arriving in Houston we made our way to our next flight to San Jose. Our boarding passes said gate C20, but when we arrived there the flight was headed for New York. We checked the departure schedule and the gate had been changed to D10. Well it turned out that gate D10 was about 2 miles away, or at least it seemed that way. We hustled because we were a little pressed for time, and luckily the flight was running late and we all made it on time. Again the flight was smooth. We were served dinner - some really tough steak for some - and enjoyed an in flight movie, Hanging Up - it was so, so.
The flight arrived in Costa Rica around 8:30 p.m., 10:30 Michigan time. Immigration and customs was a snap and they were very efficient delivering the luggage from the plane. After exiting the airport we were quickly greeted by airport shuttles and our tour leader, Jurgen, and his dog Floser (which means flea-bag in German). It was a half-hour drive to the hotel in San Jose, Ave de Paradiso.
The hotel had some pretty grounds with lots of trees and flowers. We were then assigned rooms, triples and doubles. The rooms are nice, large and comfortable. Some students were lucky to have a TV, refrigerator, and microwave. Others weren't so lucky, with Bryonie, Amelia, and Helen getting the "get-to" room downstairs that didn't have pretty vaulted wood ceilings and none of luxurious amenities listed above. They are surviving.
After walking around the grounds on a pleasantly cool night - around 65º F, we all went back to our rooms to either take showers or go to bed. The next morning was full of complaints about the lack of hot water. But as it turned out U of M students didn't know how to properly use their showers. Only one "smart" room, Patricia, Amanda, and Heather, were able to figure it out. Now everyone knows how to get their hot water. It was a good night's sleep.
