And the rest is still unwritten...

Costa Rica Day 3

Report from last night: A bunch of students met at the central park and we visited some bars downtown. Christy [the other student that is living with my family until Friday] thankfully went with me so I wouldn’t have to travel home alone that night. The margaritas son muy muy muy delicioso [are very very very delicious]. They aren’t that different from the States but something about them is different, and I can’t seem to figure it out. Maybe they use real, fresh lime juice.. or a different tequila.. I’m not sure, but I might try to bring a whole batch back home. The next place we went to was “Ladies Night”. Apparently Monday night is a very popular night for college students to go out. Weird. Because in the States, I’m usually dying on Mondays after a long weekend. So we decided to join this new custom and experience a Monday night out for ourselves. The bar we went was 2 free drinks for all ladies. Score. I wanted to keep up my adventurous ways so I was up for trying their cervezas [beer]. Except, apparently they serve beer in a cup over ice? Not my favorite.. so I didn’t even use my other ticket. I called it an early night because as I stated in the post yesterday, learning a different language in its native country is exhausting. I came back to the house, washed my face and crawled into bed. [Sorry for the above paragraph about the bars, mom. But I promised to blog about everything.]

Today started off with a nice but short shower. I’m not allowed to take long showers with hot water because it could mess up the plumbing system? I’m not sure… that’s what I gathered from our conversation this morning.. That could be right or wrong.. So I just took a quick one anyways! As I said before, the humidity here is definitely the worst thing I’ve experienced so far minus all the CRAZY drivers. So as I have also stated before.. my hair has the month off. I have to admit, it was nice waking up this morning and not blow drying and fixing my hair. [Kimber, if you’re reading this.. Yes, I’m not fixing my hair for a month. Pictures will prove it]. Another very interesting thing and I am super proud of is I used my straightner this morning to fix the crease in my cuffed Old Navy shorts. Cuffed shorts are not the most ideal to travel with because they do need to be ironed, but no worries… I fixed the cuffs beautifully thanks to my 450 degree flat iron. Props to me. After my attempt to get ready this morning, I went downstairs for breakfast. Delicious fruits and a sandwich were waiting for me. This morning, I had pineapple [my favorite in Costa Rica so far], strawberries [my favorite in America], mango, and something I had never had before. I asked what it was called, but couldn’t understand her response. So I’ll just refer to it as the weird but kinda good orange fruit.

After breakfast, Christy and I walked to the school. I talked with some West Georgians and then headed to my classroom. Except, today, that was not my classroom. After walking around for about 10 minutes, I finally located the director and asked where my “new” classroom was. He took me there… it was partially outside. Outside. Which means humid humid humid. There was a nice breeze today so it wasn’t terribly bad. However, the humidity level for Friday is suppose to be the worst all week so I’m thinking about putting in a request for the room I had yesterday, which is complete with a ceiling fan. I can’t figure out a way to describe classes here. So here’s my attempt: I know a lot of what the other two students don’t and they know a lot of what I don’t. We started the day with going over vocabulary. The professor would give us a word and we had to use it in a sentence. I couldn’t say a single sentence with the words I was given. But later on in the day, we had our grammar section. I knew everything the professor went over and even volunteered to do some exercises in the workbook aloud. I guess people learn differently according to Universities. I feel like UWG does a great job of teaching grammar [although it is extremely hard and I am still learning, I know more than most students]. However, when it comes to the simple things like vocabulary and asking and answering questions, they do not focus their attention on these things. So all in all I guess a good day in the classroom.

Class ended today and I went to lunch with several students from UWG. Today’s lunch menu consisted of chicken and rice… surprise! It was very good though and of course another coca cola light made the meal perfect. After lunch, another student and I decided that we wanted to tour the city ourselves. The two guided tours have been great, but we both wanted to go in a lot of shops that we passed over the two days and also pick up some items we needed. The first item on my list…. A FAN!!! I’m hot natured anyways, so I understand that it’s probably a lot hotter for me, but this is ridiculous! After sweating myself to sleep the past two nights, I figured the BEST investment I could make all trip was to purchase a fan. Success. A small blue fan that has high velocity.. and we found it in the first store we shopped in. Spending the day as true tourists, we ventured all around the city with a map in hand. We decided to go down some streets that we hadn’t been before and we met a nice ENGLISH speaking lady. She was born in Costa Rica and lived in New York for the majority of her life. She had recently moved back here to be with her parents. She told us some places we needed to visit, luckily most of them were already included in our trip as weekend excursions. She then told us about a place that no one had mentioned before… La Fiesta Casino… yep! It’s exactly what you think it is. A casino! A true American style Casino complete with drinks, slot machines, and card tables. I couldn’t help but think to myself… I could stay here forever! Great margaritas, friendly natives, great meals, and a casino… haha! Just kidding mom, I’m coming home in 26 [I think] days! But this was a great find on our adventure today! Needless to say, the West Georgians will be visiting there soon!

I just ate dinner and it was another great meal. I am not sure exactly what it was… but it was very good so I enjoyed it without knowing what I was eating. Yikes! My host mom told me that I needed to talk more. Which I know is true, I’m just not very good at responding to her questions or statements so I tend to not say a lot. I understand a lot of what she says, but I don’t have enough confidence yet to continue conversation. This is also something I struggle with during class, but I think it has a lot to do with how class is conducted at UWG. Not that the teachers are awful or anything, we just don’t communicate in the classroom they way it is done here. At UWG, if I didn’t understand something I always asked.. and the professor would respond in English to make sure that I understood. Here, every single second is Spanish. If I don’t understand something, the professor here will try to say it another way but even then I sometimes don’t understand. My advice for West Georgia, would be to incorporate much more communication into the classroom. It is very important for understanding others and communicating.

Here is an updated list of things I learned today:

1.    Bottled water is cheaper here than in the States. I bought 2 today for the price of 1 in the States.

2.    Shopping in a different country is fun. If I don’t feel like talking to someone who is trying to sell me something, I just say “no hablo espanol” [I don’t speak Spanish]

3.    Multiply walking as an Orientation leader last summer by 10 and that’s what it’s like to live here. Even chacos make my feet raw. [get ready for a pedicure when I come home, friends!]

4.    Costa Rican men loveeeeee American girls. I got whistled at and clucked at today. Yes, I just said cluck… like the sound a chicken makes. Cluck cluck cluck.

5.    Two cars let me cross the street today. Which is a proud moment for me, because as I have stated earlier, it’s rare that cars stop for anything including stop signs.

6.    I love the sweet, encouraging messages on Facebook. Keep them coming friends, they mean a lot!

7.    My new name is officially Whiney. Thank you mom and dad for giving me a name that foreigners can’t pronounce.

8.    I shared with my class today that I live with 19 girls while at school. They all thought that was insane.. which sometimes it is. But it has been the best year of my life. So call me crazy!

I can’t believe it has already been 3 days since I have been here. I’m slowly but surely starting to adjust. I have heard that the second week is the hardest, so right now.. I’m just enjoying the “trying new things” process.

“The brave will not live forever, but the cowardly may not live at all.” –Princess Diaries

My inspiration for the next few weeks! Much love sent back to the States J