I've already been here for 2 months! Yesterday I was in the Miami airport anxiously waiting for our plane to Costa Rica.
I've noticed a few tricks to life in Costa Rica so far: 1) Pedestrians right away- There is no such thing. Cars here have no mercy, and I'm absolutely sure that they speed up when they see pedestrians crossing the highway. 2) A certain time to be somewhere, like meet at 8 for dinner, is just an estimate here. "Tico Time" is pretty much self explanatory. Don't worry about being places on time, just use it as an estimate. 3) Taxi drivers. Taxi drivers find new routes every day that are just a bit longer than the absolute longest way they were taking before. Sometimes you luck out with a taxi driver who isn't searching for a "long cut," other times, well, it happens to the best of us. 4) Personal space? Not really a thing here. People are always over at each other's house, and your tico families aren't afraid to ask you questions that make you think twice for a second. Its actually nice to be around a lot of people at once who treat you like one of their own. And, for the questions part, don't take it personally.
Last weekend I went to Playa Samara in the province of Guanacaste. This beach is a hidden gem of Costa Rica. Its really small and the people are so friendly. Time here is stand still, which was a nice change of pace. Me and one of my friends kayaked to a small island and snorkeled with our guide. This had to be one of my favorite things I've done here so far. Our tour guide told us all about his life in Samara, and the places he lived before. He talked to us about the place itself, from the best places to go to the best place to watch the sunset.
We are getting close to preparing for final exams in our electives, and people that are here for 12 weeks are talking about how they are spending their last few weekends going here or there. Time is going by too quickly.