arrived safely!

I arrived safely and the flight was uneventful though the view of the clouds were amazing! I took lots of photos and am glad I had a window seat. I'm sure the couple next to me wondered why. I was so enamored but I love clouds in all their forms. I saw a lot of farms when flying in. I spent time on the airplane reading up about the area and read the guide the language school gave me. The lines were long at immigration, but they moved quickly and at customs I just had my bags scanned and gave them a form, but that was it. It seems that the FIFA women's world cup may be playing games here because there was a welcome table for them at the airport. The driver from the spanish school who picked me up was really nice and we were able to communicate pretty well in spanish. There were things I wondered about while driving that I couldn't ask about well in spanish (Names of trees, etc.), but it was neat to see a bit of San Jose. It seems like a small city and it reminds me in many ways of Mexico. The family I'm staying with is very nice. All the homes around here in what seem to be the suburbs have outside gates and courtyards/yards in front and back. The mom showed me the house and my room and introduced me to her two young adult children, and to her brother who is helping her husband paint the back patio. I had some water and chatted with the mother and daughter some and then the mom showed me how to walk to Ilisa--the language school. It's only a few blocks away which is an easy walk. There is an elementary school near the language school and it's named after Franklin Roosevelt. I wondered why. There's also a drug and alcohol treatment place that's a landmark on the walk to the school though the mom said it's locked/secure. There are two other girls here in the house who are also students and they are here for 6 months (have been here 4 months). One of them is from Oklahoma and I don't yet know where the other is from. I go on a tour tomorrow very early of a volcano (Paos is it's name), waterfall and butterfly conservatory. The father will drive me to the meeting place which is nice since I need to leave at 5:50am. It rained a little when driving from the airport, and it feels very humid now. I have internet access at the house which is nice so I can try to keep blogging about the trip.