The first class I had was my Spanish class, and unfortunately it gave me a false view of my Spanish-speaking abilities. I felt so confident during and after that class because I was able to understand my professor (Alexa) and I was able to participate in class. I was ready for my second class of the day after that ego boost!! Yeah....that bubble was popped as soon as my professor in the second class began to speak. I still have no idea what the heck he was talking about. He.... just ...kept....talking.... He would make a joke (I guess he was making jokes) and everyone in the class would be dying of laughter...I didn't laugh. First off, I didn't understand, and second, I was very near tears because I DIDN'T understand! The rest of that first week was pretty much the same. A whole lot of the professors talking and a whole lot of me not understanding. One class worth noting is my Friday morning 7am class (yes I wrote 7am), Indigenous Ecology, and this class is worth noting because we spent the first twenty minutes meditating. Yeah. Then I proceeded to fill out a questionnaire from the professor, and one of the questions asked me my blood type. I was like wait what?? Why do you need to know my blood type exactly....? Afterwards, we watched a YouTube video, and then we had to draw our feelings on what was seen in the video....I'm just still not sure what the purpose or point of this class is..I just go.
Aside from my school classes, I also signed up for a dance class and a swimming class. Last week was the first week for both of them and neither of them were what I expected. The dance class is every Tuesday night, and I was prepared for a class in which we would slowly learn the basic steps of the salsa, merengue, etc etc. Wrong. It was like a fast-paced aerobics dance class in which you just had to stumble about until you figured out how to move your feet exactly. The classes are held in a big room next to the main cafeteria. Like most places in Costa Rica, there was no air conditioning, and there were also no windows (which is unusual here), so basically I was sweating profusely. I also wore jeans, a t-shirt, and Sperrys (because again I thought it would be a very slow paced class), so I was quite disgusting by the end of the class. So of course, the teacher paired us up towards the end of class for partner dancing. The poor guy I had to dance with just looked disgusted lol, I literally had sweat pouring down my face. He stood as far apart from me as he possibly could, I felt like a leper. I had a lot of fun and I did learn how to salsa, but now I know to wear workout gear....and to bring a towel.
The swimming class. First, let's start with the fact that I was told the wrong building for the location of the class, so I was 10 minutes late. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem because EVERYONE here runs on tico time (i.e. always late time), but the swim coach is a punctual fellow apparently. So I rushed to get changed and took myself out to the pool. The pool is huge...like Olympic size. Now, I've never claimed to be a great swimmer, but I like to think that I am decent. I can swim okay and I can float very well. I thought this would be enough to place me in the intermediate class. Wrong ( I am wrong a lot here). The swim coach was just so disgusted with me and my friend, Amber. He yelled at what we were doing the whole time and at the end he told us that we were not good swimmers. Yes, he said this. He said that we should come to his 9am beginners class because we don't know how to properly breathe, properly kick, or properly stroke. Everything was mal (bad). We have to keep attending the intermediate class, however, because of scheduling conflicts. He looked so resigned at this information, but he did say he would help us. Basically, I won't be trying out for the Olympics in 2016...womp womp.
Things are continuing to get better though. I do have a slightly better grasp of the language at this point. Now, I understand about half of what is being said, as opposed to the nothing I understood the first week. I still have my mess ups, though. Like the day I went to a local grocery store and the cashier asked me a question that I didn't understand, so I said "no" and she got sooooo pissed! She slammed my change down on the counter and stomped off. Afterwards, I realized she was asking me to wait a second because she needed to do something, so I must have seemed like such a jerk to her because I said "no"....lol I avoid that store like the plague now.
Yes, it is indeed hard for a gringa to live in a Latin American country. To top all of this off, I have gotten several sunburns since I have been here. However, all of these hardships should add up to semi-fluent (fluent?!) Spanish-speaking abilities, and one heck of a suntan. I am trying to keep a positive attitude, and I know it will get easier as I grow more accustomed to the language. As always, I leave you with some pictures because above all else I am in an amazingly beautiful/interesting place.
This is a bridge on my campus that connects one half of the campus to the other. I think it is pretty :)
Heredia is known as the "City of Flowers" (although it is because of the beautiful women..not the local foliage) and a few of the sidewalks around town are imprinted with these huge blossoms.
This is a huge church that is located in the Central Park in Heredia.
Rivendel? Methinks they must be fans of "Lord of the Rings"?
So sad. I can't speak the language, but I have a shoppers card to the local grocery store.
Inside the church at Central Park. It felt so sinful to take a picture inside of a church!
This one is for my sugar. I told you there was a casino in Heredia ;)
This is a wall near the Police Department. I love all of the wall art around town.
I'm not sure what/who she is but I had to rub on her big ol' belly!
Shut the front door.....Game of Thrones...my love
More of the local wall art. Such talent
The wall art extends to the campus as well. Loves how colorful the school is.
I took this picture for my boyfriend. It says I love you. The only confusing part is the "llu", but "ll" in Spanish makes the "y" sound. Just to help you out ;)
aahhhh I want this pillow! It is so adorable to me! This is the back side.
So...we girls justified going to Hooters by saying it was a cultural experience because we wanted to do a comparison...really we just wanted wings.
Just so you are more aware that this is Costa Rica.
Later on that same night we went out for Ladies Night (whoop whoop) and I had to take a picture of this sign. It just pleased me that coctails is spelled coctels in CR.
Ravenous ladies waiting for Hooters wings and fries.
