Leaving home now~~

All ready to leave my house! Luggage in tow! More photos to follow later at the airport! (Including my luggage bungee cord!)

Tomorrow is the Day~~~

¡Hola!

Tomorrow is finally the day! 14 days in Costa Rica! I'm super excited! 

Since this is the night before the trip I'm really exhausted ( I volunteered all day, Sra, Phelps if you're reading this, it was a really fun day at Downtown day!)  I'm not going to post too much :) 

Thanks again SPIabroad.com for this opportunity to travel to Central America! 

Okay so updates; 

I unfortunately cannot do online checkin for this trip because it's international, but I was upgraded! I'm in First Class for the Boston- Houston part of my trip and Business Class for the Houston- Liberia Part of it. Comfy seat here I come! 

I'm meeting my roomie Laura in Houston, she gets there at the same time I do! What we are going to do in the airport is still unknown..

My emotions right now: Um I'm not a very expressive person and I don't think the reality that I'm actually going on the trip has set in. Instead of feeling anxious or nervous I'm really excited! Going to new places is my favorite thing to do so this will be a new adventure for me! I can't wait to meet my host family and meet the 3rd "mom" that will be in my life! I can't wait to finally get a brother too! I really can't wait for Spanish classes too. Learning it in the actual country where they speak it will definitely help my language skills and maybe I'll finally be able to roll my r's ( I'm Puerto Rican but I really can't roll my r's...) From this trip I want to understand my own culture better and that of other people's because the only way to peace in this world is through understanding...

Packing is complete! Foreign money and cameras, with all of their accessories, are packed! I'm just getting ready to go to bed since I have to wake up at 4 am to get to the airport at 6am and try to figure out where I'm supposed to go, get through security, eat something (although first class gets served breakfast...) and get to my gate. This is my first actual time in an airplane (I think I mentioned this before?) since first grade (which I remember nothing about) so I don't really know how to go through an airport; luckily my roommate has a bunch of times so once I get to Houston we'll be all set until orientation! 

I'm off to bed! Pictures of my packed luggage, airport, and plane ride will hopefully be up tomorrow at random points during the day! 

Adios!

-Juliana

Live. Laugh. Travel.

8 Days From Now...

In only 8 hopefully short days, I'll be at the Houston Airport awaiting my flight to Liberia Costa Rica! It seems like the months have gone by so fast! I have to thank SPIabroad.com again for the opportunity to go to Costa Rica! I would never of thought that'd it be my first trip abroad! 

My roommate and I are getting along fine already! I can tell we will have a lot of fun on activities and during free time~ 

I received my currency already! I just used my local Bank of America to order it and it took only 3 business days to arrive! In my experience check your local bank first to see if their rates are better than Wells Fargo, if not Wells Fargo is your best bet! It has much better rates than AAA and most likely the airport. 

I've been busy practicing my Spanish and buying supplies for the trip! I have only 8 days to make sure I  have everything... Challenge accepted! 

I'm looking forward to stepping on foreign soil, discover different customs, and immersing myself in culture! 

Remember~ 

Live. Laugh. Travel. 

 

The End of the School Year marks the beginning of my summer adventure~

My last final Monday marks the end of sophomore year. I'll be a junior officially at 12 pm Tuesday. It's the end of another school year but the beginning of my summer adventure to another hemisphere! My Costa Rica trip marks my first trip abroad~ it's going to be a heart pounding experience. If someone asked me in September if I'd study abroad this school year I'd think they were crazy but it's really happening! 

2 weeks from now I'll be on a plane heading from Houston to Liberia, Costa Rica with 5 other students~ my roommate is from CT and her name is Laura! I know we'll have a blast~ all of us will~ it's Costa Rica!!!! 

My host family consists of a mother, her 14 year old son and her 5 year old daughter. I got my host family gifts this weekend~ I tried to get things that reflected what I like, my heritage, and also my state. For my host mom I got her a Bath and Body works perfume that reminded me of tropical fruits commonly found in Puerto Rico, where my family is from. For my host brother I got him a Red Sox's hat (MA; got to represent!) and for my host sister since she is only 5 years old I bought her two of my favorite things: a hello kitty bubble set and a jump rope~ these are things we can do together and she can do it by herself when I sadly leave.

I'm all packed and ready for the most part. I bought a whole bunch of clothes and it's all folded into my main suitcase. My carry on is going to have some shoes, my beach towel, and some books and chargers ^^ I have my passport all set as well~ my suitcases are all under weight surprisingly for the amount of stuff I put in them. I'll be keeping a lot of free space in my carry on for things that I'll buy in Costa Rica!

2 weeks until departure! 

Live. Laugh. Travel. ^^

SAT Spanish~~

I took the SAT 2 in Spanish this weekend. Definitely a new experience! The test was okay compared to AP Spanish~ the room was way too hot though but I lived through it~ Spanish class is quiet since the seniors are gone so I'm just planning on what to pack in my suitcases and what to bring as host family gifts. The countdown for the trip is on for me. 27 days from right now I'll be on a plane to Liberia airport!  I can't wait to meet all of my fellow classmates and immerse myself in Spanish~ 

Anyways no more shopping updates~ I'll be buying travel sized toiletries in a few weeks~

School is over June 18th~ 

Volunteering the night before leaving~ Will be a fun way to say goodbye to the U.S for 2 weeks~~ 

Live. Laugh. Travel. 

AP Spanish is over!!

My ap Spanish test is over finally~ it's been a while since it has been But I've been super busy studying for APWH -_____- all my tests are over with so I've been focusing on studying Spanish and packing for the trip~ more clothes have been bought and I bought this cool little luggage bungee cable to attach my luggage together~ I also got a floral passport cover~ the countdown is on for the trip~ I'll be getting my AP Spanish score while I'm there so I'll either be really happy or really sad~ I can't talk about specifics but the test wasn't too bad~