Getting started is hard ;)

So after I got off the plane, the adventure begins...

I'm in a foreign city at 5 in the morning without reception, without any knowledge of Spanish, at the airport waiting for someone to hold up a sign that is meant for me... great shit. 10 minutes already feel pretty long, but the rescue came. Second shock... no one speaks English. Well then, let's just rely on Google translate somehow.

Upon arriving at the host family, I meet Marie, who is also a volunteer, speaks some Spanish and I thank her for easing the initial language barrier.

Well, I can say that in San José you feel a bit like in Grand Theft Auto... power cables hang across the streets, drivers drive as they please, EVERY house has bars and barbed wire in front of the door, and you can quickly lose your sense of direction.

Yes, we visited the Irazu volcano, which at 3432m is the highest point I have ever visited.

Apparently Neil Armstrong once said that it is the place on Earth that is closest to the surface of the Moon, whether that's true or not, it's a unique place.

Oh, and in the evening we also removed the "small" spider from the house, which made itself comfortable with us, removed with combined effort.

Today we went to the zoo for orphaned animals, and honestly, it puts Schönbrunn to shame with what they have there.

I mean, where else does an iguana run in front of you?

And I think quesadillas are now in my top 5 on the menu.

I will now spend 3 more days with my host family, who have welcomed me very warmly, and then I'm off to paradise.

Regards, Jakob, your correspondent from the tropics