Where's Chad?

Just got back to the hostel a couple hours ago. We're all completely exhausted; training camp was almost too much fun!

We stayed in a small cabin-style hotel on the coast in Puntarenas. It was pretty cramped, but we're all so comfortable with each other at this point that no one really noticed. The ACI staff spent a good deal of time talking to us during the day, but at 7 PM the music went on and the entire camp became one big fiesta. Costa Ricans certainly know how to party, but factor in 25 Germans and things get pretty crazy... in a good way, of course.

Then there came the downside.

Every afternoon, without failure, the skies would open up and down came the rain. However, this was not just any rain that you would find in the United States. For hours upon hours, it would pour and pour until we were sitting on one giant lake. This was a ton of fun the first time it happened, and we all went dancing in the rain and jumped in the pool fully clothed. But the camp had terrible drainage problems, and the mud became so bad that by the end of the first night at least half of us had given up on shoes altogether. (As a result, my feet now seem to be permanently dyed a dark brownish black color... but at least I saved my shoes, right?) Almost everyone ended up running out of clean clothes, so after a long bus ride in damp shorts and muddy T shirts, we were all more than happy to be back in out cozy hostel.

Spanish lessons begin at 9 AM tomorrow, followed by ACI-led classes in the afternoon. We have started to learn our way around the city on foot and by bus and no longer need Jorge to get to and from our meeting points. Once we really do get the hang of it, though, we'll be on our way to new towns where we'll have to learn all over again...