Costa Rica Day 1

Hi, welcome to our awesome blog. This is Arob, Bethany, and Mary here going on 20+ hours of no sleep and lots of traveling. We have settled into our home for the week: the Score Villa.

Picture taken in one of the buses after we were picked up from the airport

This morning began at the ungodly hour of 3:00 am as we all packed onto the bus and departed for Atlanta, arriving well before rush hour. Going through security was smooth-sailing until our very own Grace Herring was stopped on the other side by the TSA agents asking her to "empty her pockets". She, however, thought this was some new rule and was referring to her backpack, so she proceeded to empty those pockets. Here on the Lady Scots team, we value rule following, and Grace Herring was an A+ example of that this morning. We then enjoyed a wide variety of breakfast options including smoothies, crepes, oatmeal, and McDonalds (gotta love those golden arches).

We arrived at the gate two hours before departure, giving us plenty of time to play uno, Egyptian rap slap, and other obscure options. Some of us just slept, because 3 am remember? Soon enough, we boarded the plane with no problems and were all sitting together. Coach quickly whipped out the wet wipes to kill 99.9% of the germs on the plane.

Thankfully we had a safe and swift flight!

We arrived in Costa Rica at 11:30 am local time as we gained two hours due to the time difference. The Customs line was long, but this turned out in our favor as Mary and Kailey needed the time to memorize our travel information to relay it to the customs officer. We're thankful that not only all of our members but also our luggage arrived safe and secure.

Upon stepping out of the airport, we met our missionary hosts, Veronica, Salvador, and Fitz, who carefully navigated us through the onslaught of Taxi drivers. We were greeted with a wonderful lunch at the Score Villa. After lunch, Veronica gave us a helpful orientation before we headed into a much appreciated nap time (or as we say here, Siesta!)

At 5:00 on the dot, we made a quick and much needed Wal-Mart run where Addy helped us with some translation and currency exchange as we checked out. After dinner together, Rachel split us into devotional groups to discuss and pray over the next few days. We are thankful for a time to grow together as a team heading into this season. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and we will continue to update every night.

Thanks for reading,

Arob, Bethany, Mary M.