Hola from Costa Rica

Josh and I have arrived! We have actually been in the country for several days now. We spent one day exploring San Jose-the capitol. It is everything people told us it would be. Busy, a little dirty, but nice. We spent day 2 on a tour bus exploring Central Costa Rica. We were fortunate to visit a volcano and were able to see it. Apparently, many people are not so lucky. The visibility is not always so great up there. We also visited a butterfly sanctuary and took a boat ride down the river and saw some cool wildlife including howler monkeys in their natural habitat. We had a smooth and then mucho bumpy ride to Santa Teresa where we are now staying for 5 more days. We are on the Pacific ocean and can hear the waves from our hotel. There are a lot of surfer dudes hanging round with huge tatoos. It is a very laidback, causual place to be. It will be a good time to relax. A few interesting tidbits: We landed in Panama City as one of 6 airport of the day. As we hit the ground, the people on the plane all started clapping. It was hilarous. I really wish we did that in the states. We asked around and apparently that is not a common tradition. I was sad to hear that. As we walked around San Jose, we were constantly on guard. Josh and I almost got hit by cars on several occasions. Yielding to pedestrians is not required here. We have been using public transportation which is highly recommended as the drivers here are nuts.