Costa Rica 2014
Señora HuffSeñora BrooksMs. Carothers
Travel Chaperones
Sra. Huff
Sra. Brooks
Ms. Carothers
Travel Chaperone Sra. Huff
Ilsley, Anne
Ko, Ji Hoon
Laman, Russell
Lewis, Vanessa
Liu, Jonathan
McClave, Fiona
McKinley, Emily
McKinley, Katherine
Newton-Chen, Nicholas
Travel Chaperone Sra. Brooks
Andersen, Victoria
Bruce, Benjamin
Garbis, Shira
Geva, Adi
Goddard, Gabrielle
Harris, Niki
Houston, Nathaniel
Huang, Daniel
Travel Chaperone Ms. Carothers
Ollendorf, Matthew
Parizek, Lara
Parus, Mitchell
Prough, Gavin
Tavangar, Mona
Tuomi, Markus
Winter, Adam
Xie, Kristin
Yi, Jeongwook
Reminders
Slight change in cost due to ticketing fee. Total cost is $1756 (-$1,000 deposit = 756 balance)
Notary Letter
T-shirt suggestions/drawstring bags
School/orphanage suggestions
Departing Logan January 29,2014
Arrive at American Airlines Desk at 5:30 AM w/passports!!!!
Meet your Travel Chaperone to check in.
Flight 1441 Boston to Miami 7:50 AM arrives 11:25 AM.
Flight 337 Miami to San Jose 12:40PM arrives 2:25 PM.
Transfer in Miami
Short layover (1 hr 15 min.)
Pack Snacks/Small meal in your backpack
Pack a change of clothes and toiletries in your backpack (just in case suitcase doesn’t make the transfer)
Travel with chaperone in airports and customs
Airport and Airline Expectations
Representing your family, Diamond, and the town of Lexington
Recommend using the flights to San Jose to complete Team homework
Arrival into San José
Travel Chaperone (luggage, customs)
We will secure all passports for the week
Meet Rancho Español’s staff for transfer to the school
Rancho de Español is located in La Guácima de Alajuela, a small village 18 miles northwest of San José and about ten minutes away from the international airport.
Arrival at Rancho Español
Orientation
Transfer to host families
Night check from Chaperones :)
Importance of sleep and hydration
Safety in Costa Rica NEVER travel alone…travel in groups
Travel Chaperone is your contact
Know your ability (swimming, canopy tour)
Make sure you use plenty of sunscreen (remember, we're just 10 degrees above the equator!) and drink plenty of liquids
Spending Money
$120-150 in $1, $5, $10, or $20 dollar bills. Do not bring traveler’s checks or any other forms of money.
Current Exchange Rate (as of 12/12/13) 1.00 USD = 496.54 CRC
One Suitcase and Backpack
Suitcase can not weigh more than 50lbs. With American Airline, 1st check-in is free (along with one carry on and one personal item)
Your host family will do laundry as needed (1-2 times) Appropriate tops, shorts, skirts A pair of khakis pants Cargo shorts Sundress Capri's Appropriate bathing suits A warm jacket/wind breaker for the Poás volcano. Refer to the Packing List (student meeting) for a more
complete list of things to pack.
Communication Chaperones will email all parents once we have settled
into the school that first night…please be patient.
Chaperones will update daily blog on Shutterfly.
Free Wi-Fi at school. Students will be able to send and receive emails during school hours.
Students will NOT use the house phone to make calls to the U.S, but they may receive calls from anywhere. If they NEED to call one of the chaperones, they must ASK the Señora for permission.
If you need to contact any of the chaperones for non-emergency matters, please email us.
In case of an emergency, you may call us at 8820-2665 or 8826-9795
Family Gift? Go in with your roommate
School recommends kitchen items (hand towels, potholders etc.)
Candy/Chocolates
Spanish Classes? Open-air classrooms
No more than 6 students in a class
Classes are run in Spanish only
Classes run 8 AM to Noon
Volcano Poás and La Paz Waterfall Garden
Tortuga Island
Arenal +Baldí Hot Springs
InBio Park
School Visit / Orphanage
Café Britt
Oxcart Factories
Costa Rica Blog
We will post pictures/stories on our blog each day
http://diamondcostarica2014.shutterfly.com/
Email [email protected] by January 6th if you want to be added to the blog
Arrival Home
Depart San Jose on February 7, 2014
American flight 353 San José to Miami 1:50 PM arrives 5:40 PM.
American flight 971 Miami to Boston 7:25 PM arrives 10:30 PM
PLEASE BE ON TIME FOR PICK UP….
GRACIAS
TO THE PARENTS
FOR
YOUR SUPPORT
Sra. Huff, Sra. Brooks, and
Ms. Carothers