They do not call me late Tate for nothing.

My flight was scheduled May 7, 2015 at 12:20.

I thought the night before I had timed the trip perfectly to the airport from my friend’s house in Miami, boy was I so wrong. I woke up at 9:30 that lovely Thursday morning and was on my merry way at 10:15. Since it was my first time in Miami I did not expect there to be any traffic on the road at 10:30 a.m. but again I was proven wrong.

It took me 30 minutes to get to the airport instead of 15 and to return my rental car was a nightmare that was an extra 45 minutes just to drive around Miami airport just looking for the place to drop my car off.

By this time it is 11:00 a.m. and I’m running at this point to get to the desk to get my boarding pass. When I finally arrive I’m 5 minutes past my hour mark to check a bag, therefore I missed my flight.

After 2 hours of being on the phone with 3 wonderful ladies, the International Programs director, the study abroad representative, and the faculty leading the program, we got everything resolved.

I was so relieved and went straight to the gate at 3:00 p.m. and I didn’t move until they called us to board the plane at 6:10.

As I get comfortable in my 3 seats, I take the time to review my further instructions I need to follow as soon as I get off the plane and how I will get to my  group. At 7:45 p.m. I finally arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Future advice: Always be checked into your flight two hours ahead of your flight schedule.

On Monday May 11, 2015 we have an activities day. So we decided as a group that we need to get Wi-Fi to talk to our family members and friends back in the states. It had been 5 days with no contact, so we asked to tour Puerto Jimenez which was the closest town and it was 30 minutes away. That morning we had breakfast then began our journey.

First stop was by an older gentleman’s home where he walked us through how pure sugar water is made. This sugar maker was built in the early 1900’s and had been in his family ever since then. After I saw how passionate he was about the sugar, I asked if we could tour his property and he showed us all the different trees and food producing plants. He pointed out to us  avocados, bananas, plantains, pineapple, cashews, guava, sugar cane and many more types of fruit and vegetables. After we finished visiting with him we continued on to Puerto Jimenez. Right outside of the small town we had made another pit stop, we all off loaded the bus and followed Andres down a trail through the woods. We arrive at this nasty green water hole and he starts tossing fish into the water and then we start seeing small crocodiles pop up. Within 5 minutes he had a total of 6 crocs at the surface watching as the fish would be tossed in and then they would chomp at it. The smallest being 3 foot long to the biggest being every bit of 7 foot long. he finished feeding them then we all head back to the bus to make it to our final destination.

Once we make it into town everybody splits up and starts looking for Wi-Fi cafes. Everyone was able to talk to their loved ones for an hour then it was time to load up and go back to Playa Blanca. We arrived back at the cabinas at 12:30 and lunch was at 1:00, after we finished eating we had horseback riding scheduled at 2:00. So a man walks through the entrance with 8 horses total then everyone picks which one they would like to be on. On our 2 hour horseback riding journey we went through rice fields, rode on the beach, and got to see monkeys towards the very end. This was one of my favorite days because we were able to see and do so much.