Los Primeros Días

Hello all!

Man, I have so much I want to write, and yet don't want to write a novel. I'll try to do it all in a nutshell.

I feel like I have been here for a month already. When I stop and look back and realize that it has only been five days, not even, my mind is blown. I feel like I have adjusted rather well, but then again according to the so-called "laws of culture shock", I am still smack in the middle of the honeymoon period. Hopefully I can prolong it as long as possible =]

I'll try to go by day to explain bit by bit what I've been up to:

Monday: a very loooong day, including two 3-hour orientations, first at Universidad Veritas, and then at ISA. That was pretty much what the day consisted of, since we hadn't started class yet and I didn't have any homework. It was a good day to adjust and unpack a little bit more, and I got to go to bed early so that I could have a fresh start on Tuesday.

Tuesday: Woke up at 7, showered, and after an incredibly delicious breakfast made by my Tica mamá, Beatriz, Mikaela and I headed of to our first day of the intensive month. What happens during this month is that we go to class every day from 8-12, and then have the rest of the day free. Because we are in the Advanced class, we have more homework than the other classes, but really, compared to a normal semester, it's not that much. This first day of class felt extremely long (I mean, it is 4 hours...), but then it was over and we were able to head home and relax a bit. Then at 8:00 a bunch of us headed to the free Tropical Dance class at Veritas, where we learned the basics of merengue, salsa, y cumbia. We're all hoping we'll be able to use our newfound dance skills this weekend when we head to the beach =]

Wednesday: Another morning of class, only a little bit of homework due, and then we headed to the Cine at the nearest mall (Multiplaza del este) and saw The Proposal (or, as it's called in Spanish La Propuesta). It was in English with Spanish titles, which I feel is cheating a little bit on our part, but it was really nice to go see a movie and chill out in a dark theater for awhile. Also, every Wednesday is 2 for 1 Miercoles, so 2 tickets are the price of 1 ticket; in other words, mega cheap. Getting there was quite the adventure though, since we didn't know exactly where it was...first we were going to take the bus, but the bus stop we were supposed to go to was on the wrong side of the road, because the bus would have been heading in the opposite direction of the mall. So then we decided that maybe we'd be able to walk the whole way there (even though I doubted it, since our host parents took Mikaela and me there on our first night and I remembered it being at least a few miles away), and we quickly learned why many people decide not to walk places in San Jose: no sidewalks, traffic zooming by 6 inches away from you, and uncrossable intersections. So then we finally decided on a taxi, which was definitely the best option; we got there in about 5 minutes and only had to pay a few dollars. After the movie we headed home and started in on our homework, since there was quite a bit due for Thursday...after dinner, though, we got a little sidetracked because we were having a really good conversation with Beatriz about her family and her work as a waitress on cruise ships, and then she showed us a few photo albums of hers, which was really interesting; it was really nice to learn more about her past and get to know her a little better, and she had lots of fun stories to tell. She has been SO many places in the world, especially in Europe. Anyway, then I had to do my homework, and I got to bed after midnight...ah well, at least I finished it.

All right, I'm going to make Thursday a new entry, because it's the most exciting day by far.