Day 1 - Travel

By Christine Roush

Our team had an early start this morning, leaving for the airport at 4:15 a.m. Even though we were still trying to wake up you could still feel everyone’s excitement that today was the day we were finally going to Costa Rica!

We got to CVG a little after they opened and finding breakfast before we boarded was a bit of a challenge. The airplane to Miami was also very teenie-weenie for us tall people, but we didn’t complain because, hey, we’re going to Costa Rica!

The flight to Miami was nice and quick, most likely because we all slept through it. Thankfully, the plane to Costa Rica was much larger and more comfortable. Most of the girls didn’t sleep too long on our final flight being too anxious about the foreign country that awaits us. It was also hard for us to keep our eyes away from the windows because the views of the ocean and the sky were too captivating.

The entire 30-minute descent was spent looking out of the windows. There was Costa Rica! It was an amazing aerial view of the beautiful country and the city of San Jose. Going through customs was a first time for some of us and we did hit a bump when the electricity went out as we were claiming our bags. Not to worry, it came back on shortly and none of our luggage was lost.

The first order of business was to drop our things off at the hotel and then find some lunch. We were all extremely hungry. Our lovely guides, Paul and Silvia, walked us over to the Multiplaza, which is walking distance from our hotel. We were all shocked how Americanized the mall was from their stores to their food options.

We had our first multicultural experience ordering food. Trying to explain what we wanted to eat and trying to figure out the cost in American dollars was a little complicated but we were all able to get through it. Courtney, Becca, Kasey, and I had an interesting time as well exchanging our dollars into colones, the currency for Costa Rica. Fortunately the security man for the bank was able to help us figure out the process even though he didn’t know any English. Becca had a little trouble dealing with a teller because they didn’t know much English either so the manager had to be involved.

In the end we all got our colones, which are very colorful and pretty I have to add. The team didn’t stay out too long at the Multiplaza because we were all very exhausted from traveling and we had a game later! Our first travel day has been quite an adventure already and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store!