#2 news from Costa Rica

I am having a great time at school my teachers are absolutely awesome!
Even precalc is going well . I'm sorry
about not communicating that much but its hard to get access to the
internet. Love to everyone - email me - Curtis


curtisjsampson@gmail.com

News from Curtis in Costa Rica

Dear family and friends,

Estoy en costa rica!!

The flight was fine and my new exchange family is great. I hope that soon I will have wifi in my house so i can communicate regularly. My costa Rican Mom - Martha's cooking is great so not to worry, I am eating well. We got off the plane and picked up by Checo, his wife and 7 year old daughter. The ride was fine with beautiful views.
After an hour we stopped to eat - the food was good and cost aprox $10 for Pack and me together. We got back in the taxi and before we knew it(2 hours later) we were in cerro plano.

We met my family and I unpacked in my room. I have my own bedroom, a kitchen(no stove or fridge), a study, and my own bathroom. It may sound luxurious, but it can really only be related in photographs which I will send as soon as I get the internet en mi casa. My rooms are separate but also very open.

School starts on Tuesday - I will send more news soon!!

Please write to me at curtisjsampson@gmail.com

Love, Curtis

P n C en Costa Rica

Curtis and I had a smooth and exciting trip from New Jersey to Monteverde. The plane was good, we switched seats with a Costa Rican woman so she could sit next to her young son. With our new seats we sat across the aisle from each other and that worked out well.

We met Checa(la taxista) and as we filled the van with ourselves and our stuff we found out that a baritone is called a bon-bom in costa rica. We stopped and had lunch about an hour into our trip. The resturant had an amazing view of the green mountains that we were already very much into. Perhaps the undulating foliage was too much for Curtis as he at one point in a our meal exclaimed ´´everything in my sight has turned green… for a split second´´ I theorized that the light receptors of his eyes were overcompensating for the green onslaught of the montanas verdes so much that when he looked away from the mountains to his plate of food, his eyes put a green lens on everything so they could make sense of the extreme change in view.

The ride was smooth for Curtis and me even as we left the paved road and traveled on the mountain road made of médium sized rocks and clay. As we climbed the mountains in our ´´tourism´´ van the taxista´s wife had their daughter breath into a bag to combat her altitude sickness. I was sorry for the little girl, whose smaller body had less tolerance for the extreme pressure change that came with the seventeen-thousand kilometer vertical ascension.

The family of Lidier, Marta, y Josue is tranqilisimo, very warm and welcoming. Lidier especially was ready to get right down to meeting us and joking with us. They know how to make folks feel at home without being too overt about it, to the point of being saccharin.

The welcome extended beyond kind words into the action realm. Soccer and dancing happened in the living room post dinner, which was prepared, in part by the other ´´member´´ of the family who is staying in the house till the end of August. Jehns is his name and he is doing trail work at the Santa Elena reserve. He´s from Canada and a very nice chap for sure.

We are going to make a list of foods that Curtis eats so that Marta´s kitchen can be as effective and effecient as possible. We´re going to scout the supermercado in Santa Elena and the coop of Monteverde. It´s great to be back in Monteverde after four years shops and buildings have changed but the naturaleza and the vibe of the neighborhoods has maintained!

ps. we´ll get some photos up soonishly!

bon voyage.

Curtis and Pack fly to Costa Rica Saturday morning early! 8/15/2009. There is still packing and organizing to do but we still have 6 days until take-off, plenty of time!! Our family will not be all together again until Christmas so Pack came home for the weekend and we celebrated.


Siblings having fun -



brewster-sampsons and friends rock the anthill music festival