Welcome to Costa Rica!

Hello everyone!

For simplicity and as a reminder for myself, I decided to create a small travel blog. It also serves as an additional backup for my pictures, in case my phone gets stolen (which we hope will never happen :-)).

I have now reached the halfway point of my language stay in Sámara on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. For one month, I attend language school Intercultura half-days, which I booked through Boa Lingua from Switzerland.

Unfortunately, I speak more Swiss German than Spanish here, as about 90% of the students are from Switzerland ;-) but I really like it, the school offers a lot of activities such as yoga, dance, crafts (making bracelets ;-)), soccer, etc. So, I won't be bored here, even though Sámara is a small, manageable village.

I am staying with a host family in the center of Sámara. My host mother is already 70 years old and my host father is proud 80. So, they are more like grandparents :-) one of their daughters also lives in the house with her 12-year-old son, and the other daughter lives with her two twin daughters next door. My room is not directly in the house, but in a separate building behind the laundry room. It is a relatively small room, but I don't need much and I even have my own bathroom (only with cold water, but that doesn't matter with these temperatures ;-)).

My "Mamá tica" cooks very delicious and varied food, although we often have the national dish "gallo pinto" (rice with beans), she also made pasta, potatoes, fish, chicken, salad, etc. And in the morning, I always get a large plate of different fruits and granola with yogurt - mh :-)

In addition to sunbathing at the beach, Sámara offers many other activities: we often play beach volleyball until it gets dark (which happens around 6 pm here, but it also gets light in the morning around that time :-)), I go jogging, I have tried surfing a few times (which requires more time and practice) and I have already gone horseback riding, which is my absolute highlight. Unfortunately, it's too hot for the horses, so we can only walk along the beach.