The flight delay in Denver was caused by something I had never even heard of- weight imbalance due to poorly arranged baggage. I knew when I heard that that I would be on a mad dash to catch my connecting flight in Houston to San Jose. I barely had time to order a veggie sub at the airport Subway and bond with the flight attendant ahead of me in line over how neither of us ordered cheese. How emotional.
By the time I landed, exhaustion washed over me like a tidal wave and I nearly forgot to switch on Spanish mode in my mind. It's a good thing I have that language setting available, however, as not many people here speak English, much to my surprise. If you say you do not speak Spanish, they seem to think you will magically understand if they simply speak to you louder.
Once I passed through customs, I was told to look for someone holding a huge yellow flag that I wouldn't be able to miss. Well, somehow I was able to, and it took me a good long time to find my name among the pieces of paper being held up by those hoping to pick them up. I got into the car of my program representative and was off to I had no idea where. The driver handed me a folder with information on my first week and the family I would be staying with as she swerved to avoid a head-on collision and ignored the first of many stop signs.
My family was shocked when I told them I speak Spanish and informed me that hardly any of their host volunteers do. Then I was told to be up by 6:30 and would be off to the Manuel Antonio National Park at 7:10.
More later, just wanted to clam your suspense and end your nail biting. Plus, now Legally Blonde is on in Spanish and I really have to pay attention....
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