!Meeting las familias!

It´s hard to believe that any experience can top our visit to the beautiful and relaxing Manuel Antonio, but I believe we´ve surpassed it! Meeting our families last night and seeing where we would be spending the next four days was very exciting. We arrived to San Joaquin de Flores ( the small town outside of Heredia where we live and study) at about 5:00 pm. Muni, our wonderful guide from the school gave us a brief orientation to staying with Costa Rican families and then we went to the meeting place(a soccer field in front of a church) to meet them. Nine smiling families greeted 18 smiling SGS girls and off we all went for our first night with our families. After wonderful dinners followed by sleep and delicious breakfasts with our host families we met again at the meeting place. I was so happy to hear all of the exciting stories from our students and chaperones. They seem to be really enjoying their familias ticas and their homes. All of them reported kind families, many puppies and lovely interactions. We spent the day with fabulous Muni and another guide named Klara. We took the city bus into downtown Heredia, where Klara led our tour. We visited an important sports facility, a lovely artisan market ( I can assure you , you are all in for some wonderful items!), el parque central, the casa de la cultura, and a very large market where we had lunch. We all enjoyed the lively yet relaxing vibe of Heredia. In the afternoon, we returned to San Joaquin de Flores to get ready for Spanish class. The girls were tested and placed in groups for class. It was so fun for me to talk with the girls after Spanish class. They were sooooo excited about their teachers and what they were learning.
I can go home happy! Luckily I have three more days to enjoy Costa Rica. Tomorrow, we are going to San Jose to check out some important sites and then return to school for our classes; cooking,  tropical dance and Spanish. Pura Vida!