La última noche

We arrived to the hotel and checked in with all of our stuff. The hotel was much nicer than we were expecting it to be. The people were so welcoming and very nice; the way my mom and I would describe it: “excellent customer service!” We went up to the room and discovered that we had cable tv, a nice bathroom and down comforters and squishy pillows!! We were very glad we decided not to cancel the reservations. After getting all of our stuff in the room, the four of us decided that we would walk to the mega super, the grocery store to get some wine for the night. As our last night in Costa Rica, we decided that would be a great way to spend it; a couple bottles of wine, good music, great friends, and good conversation. It took us about 30 minutes to decide on what kind of wine we were going to get at the store. We made our way walking back that was not actually easy. I felt like we were in the military and had the weekend free since we were walking everywhere. It was really sad knowing that we would have to leave a new found place that we loved and new friends. We never thought that we would make such great friends in such a short amount of time. After laughing and talking and oh about 4 bottles of wine later, we decided since it was around 3 am we had to get to sleep because we had to be on the shuttle to the airport at 8 am. A few short hours later we awoke and got ready to leave. I couldn’t believe that we were actually leaving and later that night we would be back in the United States. We checked out and hurried to eat the breakfast included with the hotel, which was actually pretty good. The boys went with us to the airport to see us off which was so nice of them to do. They went inside with us to where we had to check in and talked for a few minutes and then had to say our goodbyes, which wasn’t very easy to say the least. We definitely promised that we would all visit each other soon and be in touch when we were all back home. We gave hugs goodbye and we waved to them as they left. Emily and I had to fill out the paper work for the airlines and proceeded to check in. Well, that didn’t go as smooth. My big suitcase weighed 64 pounds!! I knew that I was going home with less than what I had brought, but geeze! With that, we were sitting on the floor all bags opened trying to rearrange the best way we could. I gave my beach towel to the airport worker, and moved more school books and gifts to my duffel bag. With a couple trial and errors we finally got the big suitcase to 50 pounds! Thank goodness we decided to get there early! After we checked in, we went to exchange money (wouldn’t know until about 2 weeks after my return that I didn’t exchange about 30 dollars worth!!). We had a quick trip through security and made it to the gate. We were kind of out of it due to only about 3 hours of sleep and drinking wine so with that we marched over to the food court and splurged on a cinnabon and water!! Water was three dollars!! Pretty expensive for water! Any way we had the hammock and our “little man” a mosaic piece cut in the shape of a little hippie guy to hang on our wall in the house. We were a sight for sore eyes! Our flight was a little early arriving in Houston. It took a while to get through immigration and customs as well as claiming our luggage and rechecking. After about an hour of that we found a Chiles where we stopped and had queso dip and diet coke. We got to watch the end of the PGA championship which was nice. Not only an hour back and it already felt so awkward being back in the country! Our plane to Columbia was small and my seat was literally 1A. It felt weird being so close to the cockpit and crew. The flight wasn’t full so Emily and I got a seat where we could sit together. The flight felt much longer than it actually was I guess because I was anxious and ready to be back in Columbia and then on the other hand we had been traveling all day so I was getting pretty tired. We saw a really cool lightening storm from the plane when we were around the Atlanta area. The plane was 10 minutes early and when we could turn our phones on (might I add that it felt so good and also very strange to use a cell phone!!) I called my mom and told her we landed!! She was so excited initiated by her voice she couldn’t stand it. Off the plane a few minutes later we had officially stepped back into South Carolina! I couldn’t believe it! Six weeks of Costa Rica were over. I had a mix of emotions. I was so happy to see my mom and to be back in a familiar place and see friends and family, but I was so sad to not be in Costa Rica. We were walking to the meeting place where family members can wait for people to get off the plane and we were looking for my mom and she popped out around the corner! I was so excited to see her! I’m sure we looked so tired and out of it. We got our luggage and went to the garage! My mom was so happy and in a really good mood! She had brought my car and started to hand me the keys and I told her definitely not that I hadn’t driven a car in six weeks and it wouldn’t be a good idea then. We had a craving for sonic so she stopped at the one on campus and we got slushies and icecream! It was very delicious! We walked into the house, which felt extremely weird and didn’t feel right being back in my house. It felt different and also seemed different in a way. We all went to bed early because my Mom and I were going back to Augusta in the morning so I could get Bishop and go to the Dentist and see my family, and get stuff done. Even though I was back in the real world now, I knew that I wasn’t the same person before I left. I felt different: a little wiser, a little stronger, a little bit happier. I had grown in so many ways that I was only beginning to discover. This adventure had been an experience that I would never forget and was so appreciative for. It was an opportunity that had just begun to lead me down the road for new opportunities and surprises which I couldn’t wait to begin. As this being the final blog of my journey in Costa Rica I must conclude with Pura Vida!! Hasta pronto….