I spent the night at the Levy's House (Abby, Ronda, and Todd) in Gas City before the flight. I went to the Ice House with them for dinner and also got to see the huge light display in Marion. I miss being driving down candy cane lane as a kid and ooo'ing and ahh'ing at the lights! These lights were a lot more dynamic--had some moving light structures---I was very grateful to be able to see some lights before I left for the rest of the holiday season! Thank you Levy's/Goodpastors! I also got to skype with my family and say my good-byes---you all make me smile, no matter how weird you are, I will miss all of you this Christmas! Don't let Santa forget about me though!
Ronda and Abby spoiled me at the grocery, making sure I had enough snacks to get me through the trip! I am sorry I spent 5 minutes in the oatmeal aisle! Then it was back to their home where Abby fixed my skype (you are a miracle worker) and cleaned by computer out--that would be my only communication with home! Thank you so much!!
I went to bed around 2:15AM and I don't remember even laying my head down because I think I was out before then!
Ronda woke me up around 5:45AM, I jumped into the shower and repacked my suitcase. Ronda made me outstanding oatmeal (perfectly made dry with peanut butter and sliced bananas). I think I need to take tips from her because it was delicious! I went over making sure I had everything with Ronda and Todd and was off to airport. Todd and Ronda are my adopted Muncie parents and made me feel at home and comfortably relaxed before this trip which I was very anxious about.
Todd drove me to the Indianapolis Airport where we stood in a very long line for check-in. The reservation attendants for United were a bit frazzled with a group of people coming through and could not locate our reservation to begin with so it took even longer---but after an hour or so we made it through! My bag weighed 49.5 lbs---wow that was close!!!
Then it was off to security which was surprisingly quick and painless. No searching me this trip! I was off to the gate and boarding in 10 minutes! This had come all too fast. The first flight was IND--ORD which was a surprise to all of us because it was not on the itinerary, but a quick trip nonetheless. We just had to get off the plane, wait for 10 minutes, and then re-board. We were then off to Newark, NJ. I had a 2 hour layover here which gave me time to have the apple and sandwich I brought, walk a bit to shake out my legs and then head to another gate. During the wait I also had Dr. Fernandez back-translate the survey I was using for my research project (Daniel did an exceptional job translating it to begin with so Dr. Fernandez had no problem). I also got to call my family once more before I left the country---everyone was at the Dunn's Christmas party so I got to say hi to everyone! This made me choke up a bit because I wish I could be there celebrating with them----I am going to miss everyone this Christmas a lot, but I hope I can share my trip with them along my journey!
Pretty soon it was time to board the final plane (about 5.5 hours). I actually got place in the first row at the window behind first class which was called the Reserved, Premium row---extra leg room I guess! Saweet! I feel asleep pretty quickly and woke up to dinner being served! I had a salad with lemon pepper dressing (too spicy and not long after trying some my lips were tingling and numb), chicken patty sandwich (which was actually really good), a small bag of carrots, and a cookies'n cream brownie (again really good-not too chocolaty which I liked).
I read two dance magazines and napped a bit more--this flight seemed to be taking forever it felt like. I got up to stretch my legs--I went to the back and starting talking to one of the flight attendants (he was laughing because I was stretching doing lunges---haha I am a loser what can I say). He gave me two extra brownies and 2 bags of carrots so I'd say it was worth it!
Now what made me a bit aggravated on the plane was this baby that was behind me---I think she cried for 70% of the flight. And the parents just sat there with her! I could catch a few naps in between her crying spells but it was rather annoying not going to lie.
We finally landed about 9:20PM and quickly moved through immigration and customer. The guards checking were very relaxed and not even watching the screen as our bags went threw. We met Ceclia (Dr. Fernandez's wife) and Soledad (Dr. Fernandez's daughter). Catalina (our guide for the first part of the trip) met us at the airport as well and had a 15 passenger van (much smaller than the ones in the US) which we all piled into. It took about 20 minutes to reach the Hotel Santa Maria Inn. I shared a room with the other 4 girls (Karen, Loren, Alex, and Meredith). The room was oddly decorated with 2 Santas, oranges sheets, a tilted tv, and a statue of liberty, NYC, and Palm Tree pictures. We attempted to get some wifi but failed so we ended going to bed. I was exhausted by then anyway!
I didnt get to see much of Costa Rica since it was so dark, so tomorrow I look forward to seeing my first glimpse of this country! Very excited and anxious for the itinerary to start tomorrow!
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