Our classes are finally in full swing here in San Jose.
On Monday, my mom and I took the bus (with Carly, Mateo, and their moms) from our neighborhood to a bus stop near the ACM building where our classes are held. Our route isn’t very long, but there’s a lot of traffic in the morning, so it takes about 15-20 minutes on the bus and another 10 minutes to walk from the bus stop to the ACM building. Monday was full of various orientations and meetings and… Spanish tests! On the first day! We took a written Spanish test and an oral test to help the teachers place us in groups for our classes based on our level of Spanish. We had a delicious lunch at ACM of fruit, salad, beans, chips, and rice with chicken (and a delicious vegetarian alternative of rice, cheese, and tomatoes). After more orientations and meetings, our moms met us at the ACM and took us all to buy cheap cell phones for local calls and texts. Our group looked pretty crazy with a bunch of (relatively) tall, blonde, pale Americans, each being followed by a very short and frantic Tica (Costa Rican woman). Our moms were very helpful in finding us the best deals on phones.
My mom and I returned to our house, stopping at the bookstore on the way to buy a dictionary, notebook, and pencils. My only homework was grammar practice which was a fairly easy review of what I learned in high school. I met up with Carly and Mateo (the 2 other students from my neighborhood) to decide if we thought we could manage the bus by ourselves the next day. After a little scouting, we decided we would be able to figure it out. After dinner, my mom and I settled down in front of the TV (a very common practice in Costa Rica). We watched several different programs, including CNN in Spanish and a show called Combate. It’s a little bit like a cross between American Gladiator and Wipeout. My mom thinks it’s crazy, but I loved it because I didn’t need to understand the words to follow the show. And I found out this morning that 2 other students also watched Combate with their families!
Today was our first day of real classes. Carly, Mateo, and I met outside our houses at 6:50 (sooo early!) to take the bus to class all by ourselves, and we managed without any problems. At the ACM, we split into our groups for our Spanish classes. There are two groups, with 6 people in my group, and Mario is our teacher. After Spanish we had our Conversation/Culture class. There are three groups, and my group only has three people: Carly, myself, and our teacher Mario! Carly and I were both a little nervous, but the class was a lot of fun and we get a lot of personal attention which helps a lot. After those classes, all of the Spanish teachers took the students into San Pedro to visit the University of Costa Rica, where we will be using the libraries and sports facilities. The university was HUGE compared to all of our small liberal arts colleges. We stopped for lunch on the way back and passed a lot of other great options for future lunches.
Back at the ACM, we split into our elective classes (mine is Neotropical Biodiversity and Conservation taught by Chris). I am really excited for that class, and Chris said we can sort of focus on whatever the class wants. After that, we had one more quick orientation about the ACM library before heading back home. A few of us stopped to find the newspapers we need for our homework. It turns out it’s really really hard to find newspapers in the afternoon! When I got home I finished homework while my mom prepared another delicious dinner of mac and cheese, rice, salad, and juice (and a reddish vegetable I didn’t recognize).
The last couple of days have felt like years, and we are all exhausted, but it’s been so much fun. Every interaction here is a tiny challenge, but it’s all worth it once you conquer the challenge, whether it’s finally remembering which bus to take or figuring out how to buy a newspaper and a bottle of juice. Tomorrow our classes will be done at 12:30, so we will have all afternoon to explore the area around the ACM and our houses. I can’t wait to see what new challenges tomorrow brings!
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