the trip begins...San Jose / San Ramon

I awoke at 4am to catch my 7am flight from BWI. it was a smooth trip and before i knew it i was hovering over the majestic cloud covered mountains of Costa Rica. The airport was nothing less than madness. Costa Rican cabi's trying to pick up their next fair. Soon enough i saw him - the guy holding the Penn State sign. Ball point pen with a yellow highlighter accent! Certainly I was in the right place!
The University Of Costa Rica is not Penn State. Decorated with barbed wire and armed guards, you begin to wonder just what this town is really like to live in.
Dorms served 3 students per room. They also were infested with ants and other tiny tropical insects. It was a good transition to what was to come... At this point I was still not used to living out of my bag. Here, we packed up for our next destination - the biological research station in San Ramon.Naturally the green goblin joined me in my travels. Why wouldn't he?!Grackles were abundant in Costa Rica - they're unique calls and familiar silhouette make them an easy ID.

The buildings in CR are all open! While our room had doors and closed windows, the hallways, main entrance ways, etc were all open air! So different from the states! Maybe this is why all of the homes have barbed wire exteriors?!

Early the next morning - Friday we awoke and packed up for San Ramon! The weather was a bit chilly - in the 60's. We were ready to embark on our adventure.

Little did we know what we were in store for... more to come! stay tuned!