Well … we made
it!
It has been
a whirlwind since we left the states at 7am Wednesday morning.
Here is a
run down of the last few days for us!
Tuesday Night
Puppy
Surprise
The night
before we flew out of Charleston we started noticing that Macie, our Australian
Shepherd, was acting different. We rolled her over & noticed that she
was swollen and most definitely pregnant. We had never gotten her fixed
because we had planned to breed her with the Australian Shepherd at the Camp in
Honduras when we got there. Last month, she jumped the fence and was gone
for a day. Apparently, that is when it happened!
You can't
even imagine the surprise and shock that it brought us. We were
speechless & all we could do was shake our heads! Where do puppies
fit into moving to another country for language school?! Yeah ... we
aren't sure either!
Wednesday
Andddddd .... We're OFF!
next
morning, we left the house at 5am. On the way to the airport, I googled "Has a dog ever given birth to puppies on an airplane?" and found NOTHING. You know when you can't find something on Google ... it's not good. (Christel you would know!) We were hoping we wouldn't make a news headline by diverting our international flight because of puppies on a plane!
We had a great send off from the airport. It was just amazing to have so much support, hugs and prayers before we took off on this journey. These pictures will always bring so much joy to our hearts!
Thankfully, our trip to Miami from Charleston was smooth! The flight was just a little over an hour so it wasn’t bad
at all. Josie was asleep before we even took off in Charleston!
 |
| Sleeping Beauty |
We landed safely in Miami & had enough time to get some
lunch before boarding again for San Jose. We sat in a the last row of
three seats with Macie (our dog) & Chesney sat a few rows in front of
us. That flight was close to 3 hours … but Josie still did great!
She watched a movie, played with her goodies in her lunchbox that "Ms. Carwa"
packed for her, and kept asking “Are we close yet mommy?”
 |
| Just laying at Daddy's feet! |
When we landed in Costa Rica, she YELLED “FINALLY! WE ARE
HERE! Everyone get your stuff!”
 |
| TOUCHDOWN! |
We got off of the plane last since we were in the very
back. We started to make our way towards customs.
 |
| Josie the dog walker :) |
Houston ... We have a problem!
We had to take an escalator down to the bottom floor.
As we got off the escalator, I noticed that Macie limped a little bit. The
next thing we know, blood was being flung in every direction. We immediately panicked thinking that the puppies were coming in the hallway of the airport!
Turned out, she had
caught her foot in the escalator & ripped out a toenail! It ended up
looking like a crime scene by the time it was over.
Here are a few pictures from when it first happened ...
 |
| Daddy gave her a tourniquet! |
Needless to say, within minutes of arriving to Costa Rica,
we were thrown into the reality of using Spanish to ask for help with
Macie. Guess you could say, it was our first “Costa Rican challenge”. We ended up having two sweet
cleaning ladies come around the corner at JUST the right time to help us get
the area cleaned up & tie a bag around Macie’s foot to make it through
customs.
With all of that going on on top of being the last ones to
get off of the plane, we were late getting to baggage claim. We got there
to find that our bags were not there. When we approached the desk to ask
about the bags, we were told that all 8 bags were still in Miami.
It is a very odd feeling to narrow your life down to 8 bags
only to find out that they didn’t make it to your final destination!
So we started to fill out the form for our bags to be
delivered to us once they arrived in Costa Rica. We got to the part where
it asked for an address & remembered that here in San Jose they don’t use
street addresses. Everything is based on landmarks! So I wrote out
the directions to our apartment from the airport that our big sister (THANK YOU
BRE!) had sent to us in advance & we prayed that the bags would somehow
make it to us!
We made it through customs with no issues at all!
Macie did a great job hanging in there with her injury & it was such
an easy process!
We met Micah (our big brother) & loaded up in the van to
head home! It was about a 30-40 minute ride with traffic to the apartment
from the airport.
 |
| Taking it all in |
 |
| A little bit of traffic :) |
Home Sweet Home!
We arrived at the apartment to find that we are literally
across the street from the back gate of our school! This is a HUGE
blessing for us since we will be living here without a vehicle &
walking to class each day. We will be thankful on rainy days, for sure!
 |
| Front of our building from across the street |
 |
| View from the inside of our gate |
 |
| View from our front door looking towards gate |
Our apartment is just what we need! We are so pleased
with the location & feel like it is just the right size for the three of us
this year. Along with being so close to the school, we have a park right
down the street which is perfect for Macie, Josie, & (from what we hear)
volleyball on Sunday afternoons!
 |
| Getting right to business! |
 |
| Daniel trying to translate the Spanish on the microwave |
Because we did not have any of our belongings, we ended up
heading to Walmart soon after we got to the apartment for a basic list of
necessities to hold us over until the bags showed up.
Our first trip to Walmart was a success! Micah &
Bre were just amazingly gracious to us as they patiently showed us around the
store & helped us think through what we may need!
We came home from Walmart & CRASHED! After living in SC and coming to an elevation of 3800+ feet, we could feel ourselves dragging. What a
day. Between the emotional send off in the morning in Charleston, unexpected
blood fiasco the airport & only having what we packed in our carry-ons,
there was nothing left to do but crash anyway!
Thursday
No Bueno
I (Laura) woke up Thursday morning around 6:15 &
immediately started the coffee pot! (Missed your coffee Papaw) …
I went back into the room to get some things squared away
while the coffee was brewing. When I went back out to the kitchen to get
my coffee going, I realized immediately that my coffee was on the floor (and
everywhere else in between the coffee maker & floor)!
The coffee maker was apparently broken & roughly 2 cups
of the 10 that I brewed made the pot. So … needless to say … that was a
serious fatality in the Peal house!
PRAISE!
After cleaning that up, Josie & Chesney woke up to start
their day. Chesney & I were sitting at the table talking about the
missing bags when the bell rang at the gate of our apartment! It was
Micah & the man with our bags! PRAISE THE LORD!
I have never been so happy for such an early surprise
“knock” at the door!
As thankful as I am to have all of our things, it was
definitely a time of reflection for me as I waited for them to show up at the
door. It was eye opening to me to see how dependent we are on our “stuff”
when really we can surivive on MUCH less.
A Beautiful Day in OUR Neighborhood! :)
We headed out Thursday morning with Micah & Bre to stop
by an ATM & get our phones set up. As we crossed the street
from our apartment, I told Josie that was her new school.
She said “uh HUH Mommy! It’s MY school now because I’m
already here! I wanna peak ‘Panish here!”
We walked several blocks along the main road & made a
few stops along the way. Josie & Daniel were super excited to find a
fish store down the street. Josie is already making plans to have another
“tiny Tim” turtle here like the one we just gave away at home to the Polks!
We (Laura, Daniel, Chesney & Micah) ended up taking a
cab to the mall to get the phones set up. Bre took Josie back to their
house to meet their kids & hang out. Josie did not hesitate for a
second to take Ms. Bre by the hand & walk through the streets of San Jose
like she had lived here all of her life. It gives us such peace to see
that she is embracing life here!
We got the phones set up & had a quick lunch at the mall
before heading back to get Josie.
 |
| Christmas in Costa Rica |
When we walked in she said, “Mommy! New friends!” and
pointed to the Fowler kiddos! It is just so sweet to see her embracing
life here … she is teaching us so much along the way.
We walked back to our apartment from the Fowlers & spent
some time unwinding from the first part of our day. We walked down the
street to a park & met a few families from ILE (our school). Josie
was so excited to see a playground & already met some sweet new friends
there, too!
Around 6, we decided to venture out in an Uber for the first
time riding solo. We successfully made it back to Walmart! YAY!
 |
| Making conversation with the Uber driver |
 |
| YAY Walmart! |
 |
| Being silly in the Uber together |
Friday
This morning, we hung out around the house until our landlord came by to meet us! He was so sweet & kind! We enjoyed chatting with him & getting to know him some.
Our First Rainy Day
After he left, we hopped in an Uber to Price Smart (Central American Costco). We had fun walking through the store & seeing all of the familiar things from Costco at home! Josie enjoyed the food samples, too! When we came out from shopping, it was raining!
We came back home to unload our things from PriceSmart & then Daniel & I decided to head out to another store for a few things that we had not been able to find yet. Chesney stayed home with Josie. We had the sweetest Uber drive yet on our way out this afternoon. She was so patient & kind as I had a conversation with her in Spanish about San Jose & different things to do/see in Costa Rica. We have really enjoyed everyone that we have met & encountered so far here in San Jose. Everyone is SO kind & patient!
_______________________________________________________
So far ... we have really enjoyed everything about Costa Rica! We are so thankful to have this opportunity to learn Spanish & to be immersed in the language for a year. We are so blessed to have Chesney here with us this week as we get settled in. It's been such a blessing to have her help but even more awesome to have her tag along with us as we explore & embrace our new life!
THANK YOU so much for ALL of your prayers & encouragement over the last three days. It seems A LOT longer than just three days ago that we started this journey but we are so excited to be here.
We would love to hear from you sometime soon! If you aren't on our e-mail list for updates, please let us know so that we can add you to the list!
We are able to send iMessages, WhatsApp messages, & Facebook messages.
Our Costa Rican phone numbers are:
Daniel +506 7131 6141
Laura +506 7131 8403
Our mailing address at school is:
This morning, we hung out around the house until our landlord came by to meet us! He was so sweet & kind! We enjoyed chatting with him & getting to know him some.
Our First Rainy Day
After he left, we hopped in an Uber to Price Smart (Central American Costco). We had fun walking through the store & seeing all of the familiar things from Costco at home! Josie enjoyed the food samples, too! When we came out from shopping, it was raining!
 |
| Little Ms. Uber :) |
 |
| Our First Rainy Day in Costa Rica! |
_______________________________________________________
So far ... we have really enjoyed everything about Costa Rica! We are so thankful to have this opportunity to learn Spanish & to be immersed in the language for a year. We are so blessed to have Chesney here with us this week as we get settled in. It's been such a blessing to have her help but even more awesome to have her tag along with us as we explore & embrace our new life!
THANK YOU so much for ALL of your prayers & encouragement over the last three days. It seems A LOT longer than just three days ago that we started this journey but we are so excited to be here.
We would love to hear from you sometime soon! If you aren't on our e-mail list for updates, please let us know so that we can add you to the list!
We are able to send iMessages, WhatsApp messages, & Facebook messages.
Our Costa Rican phone numbers are:
Daniel +506 7131 6141
Laura +506 7131 8403
Our mailing address at school is:
Daniel &
Laura Peal
Instituto de
Lengua Espanola
Apdo. 100-2350
San Jose,
Costa Rica
America
Central
Our e-mails are:
dpeal@myyfc.org
lpeal@myyfc.org
As you can see, we made our entrance into Costa Rica pretty grand ... puppies & all! :)
Please continue to pray for us as we settle into life here in Costa Rica, enjoy our last few days with Chesney before she heads back to the States, & spend some quality family time (with new puppies) before beginning school in January.
More to come soon!
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