The road goes ever on...

So. January 30th. In approximately sixteen and a half hours I will be in San Jose, CR. Assuming all flights occur as planned.

Wow.

That's the best way to sum things up. It applies to everything.

Pretty much everything is packed. Documents came in on time. Gourmet sandwich is made and beautifully sandwich-baggied. Luggage should come in just under the weight limit. Now I wait.

I'm bad at waiting. Doing. Doing is good. Waiting. Not so much.

But, right now, I definitely know I'm alive :-D

Lucky, lucky...

I woke up this morning to that cold, wet, white form of precipitation (which western Washington is becoming increasingly familiar with) falling from the sky, coating the ground and roads, blocking traffic and putting my morning trip to Portland into peril. Oddly enough, it was falling on top of more snow that had been there since Saturday night and Sunday morning. I remember being in school and pleading with the forces of nature, specifically that the cold winds out of eastern Washington would set up a blind date with the ever present precipitation from the west and, through some impressive, climatic action, endow us with enough snow to, in some way, hobble the lumbering, public school system. Mostly it ended up being a mere feeble attempt at figurative language.

However, this, this is worth noting. For one thing, in comparison to San Jose, CR at a balmy 75 degrees fahrenheit, it is frigid (Note to self: become more proficient with celsius and metric). And that is just one more reason to look forward to my departure this Friday. Oddly enough, for the better part of the last six months, I've found myself surprisingly short of reasons.

Right now, I'm lucky. My family and I have always gotten on well and we're very close. I couldn't ask for better housemates than those I lived with fall semester (gorillas and goggles and Ogame, oh my!). And I have this boyfriend I'm particularly attached to. He deserves a page, at least, in the blog of life. As icing on the cake, my experience in Nicaragua, while hugely important, educational and inspiring, was very, very difficult. Suffice to say, turning around, six, seven months after I returned to the states and leaving for Central America again, was harder to do than it might sound.

But suddenly, I'm excited. I've finally had time to relax and enjoy life in the company of those who are dear to me. I've read up on Costa Rica (much less than I should have) and begun to think about things I'm excited to do there. I've been thinking about my host family and the huge opportunity it is to have one. Furthermore, nerd that I am, I checked out my options for classes and I get to go to class! And learn things! With notes and paper and books I can't afford! I must confess, the very thought of going and doing something so normal as going to class (yes, yes, another language, another country... merely details, my friend) sounds amazing, right now.

So, the moral of the story is, I'm still lucky. My family has put me in the phenomenal position of being financially able to see the world, along with raising me in such a way as to be able and willing to take on this next adventure. My friends and Spokane family are amazing and I'll miss them, but we'll be in contact. And I love getting people hooked on skype. My boyfriend is a very special kid and while I'll miss him sorely, I have, and will continue to profoundly appreciate his support from afar in all of my traveling endeavors.

Add all of that to proper visa documentation, current passport, some clothes, a couple bucks to my name, a working knowledge of Spanish and I think I'm in for an amazing 141 days :-) Cheers!

First Steps

I'm sitting here watching my nice, shiny new blog take shape. Don't touch it! I'll be forever trying to get the fingerprints off. An interesting paradox since the purpose of it is to accompany the process of drenching my life in the fingerprints of the world. But where would life be without a little paradox, eh?

For those not in the know:

The Destination: Costa Rica, Central America
The Home: Heredia, northeast of San Jose with a host family of three; mother, father and son
The Duration: 141 days, January 31st through June 20th
The Purpose: Culture study, language immersion, a comparison experience with two months in Nicaragua, a crazy-amazing adventure on zip-lines and a life experience to challenge and inspire.

Basically, I'm studying abroad at the Universidad Nacional. I'll be taking classes full-time, living with my host family and having amazing life experiences. Details to be filled in as I go along. I hope this blog allows those who read it the opportunity to follow my experiences and adventures and, of course, an alternate form of time-wasting. Afterall, facebook is so last week. I would love to hear from people here on this blog or via email while I'm gone. I have an absurd amount of patience for long, verbose communications from friends and family and (internet access provided) usually excel at returning the favor. I'm also on skype, which has become my best friend while traveling internationally.

A word on the title for those who don't read Spanish: It is taken from the Gabriel García Márquez quote posted beneath it (surprise!). The quote as a whole essentially states that most people go through life wanting to live at the top of the mountain, without realizing that true happiness comes in the way you climb the cliff. This blog is titled "To the peak of the mountain." There are intermittent peaks along the way and goals I hope to achieve but life is about the journey and this blog is about life.

Though, let's be honest, this trip is all about the zip-lines ;-)