Just to clarify...

...I am not in Costa Rica YET. I am currently writing this while sitting at a desk filled with books in an apartment on 22nd street in Philly.
I'll let you know when I get there.
Thus far I am only in the preparation stage of my trip. So, as is characteristic of me, I am consumed with needless and foolish worry. I worry about the most irrelevant and seemingly pointless details. I worry about things like: How many books can I fit in my suitcase? What if I brought the wrong kind of shoes? Will the taxi we take from airport be able to hold all of our suitcases? What if I run out of bug repellent? What if I bring the wrong kind of EVERYTHING and all the people in Costa Rica laugh at me?
Not to mention, of course, my thoughts about the plane flight. My standard The Plane is Going to Fall Out of The Sky thought pattern.
But! Along with all the babbling worry, I am also filled with excitement and anticipation. Michael and I will be moving to Monteverde, where I will be teaching. Monteverde is the most beautiful place on earth. Really.
Bear in mind, in my estimation, there are several Most Beautiful Places on Earth. Here they are, in no particular order: Machu Picchu, Peru; Lake Titicaca, Bolivia; Venice, Italy; St. John, Virgin Island; Old Havana, Cuba; Glacier, Yellowstone, Yosemite National Parks; YMCA Camp Tockwogh, in Maryland; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; Lucerne, Switzerland; Sienna, Italy; the coast of Brittany in France, and of course, Paris.

I have started taking some Spanish classes to brush up before I go. Here's a sentence in Spanish: Yo estoy escribiendo mi "blog." That means: I am writing my blog. I do not know the Spanish word for "blog."

I've included a photo of Machu Picchu. I meant to paste the photo down here at the end of the blog, but as I mentioned before, I am a bit of a bumbling fool when it comes to computers.