Arrival

It has been a very long day… up at 2:45AM, on the road to Ottawa by 3AM (THANK YOU Hailey for the drive!), flight at 6AM, layover in Washington, arrive in San Jose at 2:15PM, drive to Monteverde with a stop for lunch and check in at the Mar Inn at 6:30PM (4:30PM local time).

It started raining at lunch and has not stopped. When it rains in Costa Rica it really means business! Monteverde is quite high in the mountains so we are currently in a haze of rainclouds but too tired to care. After thinking and re-thinking my packing I am now very glad that I brought as many warm clothes as I did summer clothes. I think we will need them.

Douglas has been a real trouper, I was worried that he might not be too thrilled to be here and away from all of his friends but he has been excited and supportive today when I needed it the most. I will have to remember this if the crankiness comes in weeks to come.

Our driver, Leslie, was great and brought his 16 year-old son Sabastian for the drive. He also has a 14 year-old daughter named Alison who will be in Doug’s class at the school.

The town appears much smaller than what I had imagined. According to Wickipedia the population ranges between 250 and 750 but Santa Elena has 6,500 which is more what I was picturing. When I try to look up Santa Elena it keeps bringing me back to Monteverde and the B&B we are currently staying in (The Mar Inn http://www.monteverdemarinn.com) is listed as being in Santa Elena Monteverde – very confusing. I guess we will figure this out when we go exploring in the morning.