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Costa Rican Travel Blog

¡Hola amigos!

It is day three here (fourth if you count the day we arrived. I don’t, because I hardly remember it!). No, you did not miss days one and two. I did. It has been crazy busy, and I have not been able to start this as soon as I had hoped. However, here I am, Wednesday night, typing away, desperate to fill you in on my lovely experience. Here’s what I can pull together of the last three days:

Day 1, Monday, June 25th:

I did not sleep a bit Saturday night. Now this is entirely my fault, and I have no problem claiming this (who can pack when you’ve got a wedding to attend?), but there it is. Therefore, estoy cansada. I feel like yesterday was all one long day. I was nervous, of course, and I was super glad to have Beth with me. I mean, I’ve traveled before, but stay with a family? What was I thinking? I must like being humiliated. At least, that was how I felt Sunday when we landed.

And then I met them. A private bus (never take those for granted!) took us to our respective houses. I was so nervous! I thought I would be the last one to be dropped off, but three stops down, they say my name. Already?! But then I saw them. My “mother” cannot be more than twenty eight, if that. I think she is younger. My “father” is probably her age if a bit older. The only one I know for sure is my “grandmother.” She is in her sixties. They are all very nice! They fed me as soon as I got there and showed me my room, a sunken in tile floored room to the side. Their house is nice, and I have a twin bed, two pillows, a desk, an armoire, and a clothing hamper. I am living the good life. That night I just unpacked and read. Do you want to hear the craziest part (yes Sarah, please!)? I already know my Spanish will improve. They talked to me at dinner, but I was stumbling all over myself and very nervous. But that would change. Night came, and I finally slept.

Monday morning I got up at 6:15. Yay for school schedules! I had to be at the school at 8:00 for orientation and placement, and I had never been there before. So I decided to take a quick shower and get dressed. But the water would not get warm. I let it run for a bit and thought that maybe it would warm up. But after fifteen minutes, I had to forfeit the shower or just jump in. So I decided to just wash my hair. I turn the stream down to just above a trickle and jump in. And then... it gets warm. I’m flabbergasted, but quickly bathe and jump out. I later learn that showers are electric. You have to let the small stream heat up first and then allow more pressure. Right.

My “grandmother” took me to school, which was very nice, and the rest of my family wished me a good day. At school, I met up with everyone, and we discussed families. It seems that everyone got great familias, which is muy bueno. So, here is where it gets interesting. I take the oral placement test, and I know I do poorly. I can answer all her questions, but she is distant and uninterested, asking me a question and then looking at people around us. I can’t concentrate on the question and end up stumbling my way through a few stories and descriptions. At the end she tells me that I need to work on my preterit, compound tenses, and my subjunctive. I’m thinking, oh, is that all? But I know she’s probably right. She tells me my class will be difficult, but does not give me anymore information. So I wander back to the waiting room and discuss the test with the other kids. We’re all a bit confused as to what is going on, but that is to be expected.

A few minutes until 9:00, the director of CRLA, Laura, sends us to our respective classes. I follow Bethany, Allison and Alicia, girls I do not know (Alicia and Allison are from UCA, and although Bethany is with us, she goes to Henderson), around to a small room in the back of the building. I can’t quite catch our teacher’s name, but soon she is chatting away with all of us en Español. I like her bubbly spirit and persona, and soon I’m extremely comfortable, waiting on her to ask me my life story. She keeps saying, “I’m not Roni; I’m not boring, and I don’t like tons of homework. And I don’t like tests.” She seems really cool. I’ve been in class for about ten minutes when Laura sticks her head in the door. “Allison and Sarah? Come with me. You’re going to a lower class.” She looks away sheepishly. At least, I hope it was sheepishly. Talk about a blow to the ego! Allison and I just look at each other. But what choice do we have? So we follow.

She takes us through the courtyard and computer lab and up a staircase to a small room. There I see Marisa and Hannah. So, I would have been perfectly fine with this move, if not for the small voice in the back of my head saying “why were you not good enough for the higher level?” My new teacher is a man, young and decent looking. Those are about the only observations I can make, for, except for asking our names, he does not talk to us for quite a few minutes. But he does introduce himself. Roni. Ah. Now I understand.

It takes a while to get used to Roni, and the first day is a bit awkward. We have an hour and a half of class, a fifteen minute break, an hour and fifteen minutes of class, an hour for lunch, and then two last hours of class. So really, we’re only in class for a total of four hours and forty-five minutes, but if feels much longer. I am exhausted by the end.

After class, Dr. Zambrano takes us all to San Jose to change money. It was a fun experience (Costa Rican ATMs are interesting...), but I don’t remember too much. Back home, my family had made me dinner. It was wonderful: enchiladas de queso. But I’ve never had this cheese – it is firm and white and has the texture of a cooked egg. Es extraño. My family commented that my Spanish is much better today, and they’re right. I tell them I’m not as nervous. They tell me about the two other girls that they have had stay with them. The first knew little Spanish when she started, and by the end of four weeks was speaking much better (in complete sentences?). The other learned nothing. But that may have had something to do with the fact that she partied all night and slept in class... and never did any homework. What a waste of money! They’re convinced that in a week I’ll be speaking as fast as them, and in four weeks I’ll be much more fluid. ¡Ojala!

That night I had a bit of homework, and then, exhausted, I fell into bed. A bit of light reading and sleep at last!

If you read this far, thank you! I’m going to end with day one start a new post for yesterday. Things are easier to read in chunks! ¡Hasta Luego!