Where did June go?

Wow its been a long while since I’ve been able to update! Its been a busy week with not a lot of spare time! I’ll explain it all as I continue…

Sunday:

We got to choose what we did in the morning before heading out. We could stay at the hotel, find a tour we want to go on, or go on a canopy hanging bridges tour with our professor. It was a tough call but I ended up staying at the hotel and was so glad I did. I just didn’t have the energy to walk around all morning and I felt like I had a million other things I could do. I ended up hanging out with Elisabeth and we both silently did work. I finished my book for Quiroa’s class and wrote up my review of it plus was able to get other odds and ends done I’d been meaning to do. It was fantastic- I really needed that time to rest and get some things finished!

In theory the point of our weekend excursions is to give us a chance to relax but since my family is so chill the trips are actually more tiring for me! I share a room with two other girls so naturally we stay up later than I do at home and then we always have to get up early for breakfast- even earlier than I do for school every day. Plus we are always trying to get the most out of our visit so I wear myself out doing the activities. Throw in a bumpy ride in a crowded bus and I come back to San Rafa feeling sick!

Monday:

Since it’s our last week of official classes we began our mini-proyecto presentations this week. In the morning we got to go an animal shelter nearby the university where we got to play with the kittens and walk the dogs as volunteers. We named all the kittens and they were precious! I wanted to take my little one (I named her Felicity because feliz is happy in Spanish) home with me because she was unbelievable precious and kept coming up to snuggle me!

      After the shelter we went to Heredia so my group could do our presentation on the university there. It was somewhat frustrating to me because my group was not really interested in doing it well, mostly in just getting it done. I was kind of on the same wavelength but I got really frustrated when I felt like we were straying from the plan and just trying to get it over with and Profe could tell. I got more and more agitated as the morning went on because I wasn’t feeling well and things were just piling up. At lunch I was able to cool down because we ate at a cute little Soda (restaurante) in the center of the campus. It was cool to see where the Costa Rican students all hang out plus I ate with Jessie and Jacob and made them only talk about happy things to distract me from my frustrations. We ended up talking about our favorite things about our siblings, which was obviously a very happy topic so that calmed me down!

      After lunch we headed into San Jose- a more than 40-minute bus ride- to go to a museum, which turned out to be closed on Mondays. It was a bummer but actually worked out in our favor since we were able to go to the artisan market and shop around, which we’d been wanting to do. I found some funky rings and a colorful headband for cheep so I consider it a success!

Tuesday:

      Since we didn’t go to the university on Monday we had double grammar class on Tuesday. It was fun because usually we’re split up into two groups and trade off between grammar and culture class but since it was all grammar we were all together. It was not fun because we didn’t really learn anything. Its hard because we’re studying the subjunctive right now which is really difficult to understand how to use. Its even more complicated because our professor, who did her thesis on the subjunctive, always seems to contradict herself. The problem is we have all learned rules to follow for the use of the subjunctive but in real life it’s not always that logical. Very confusing when you’re trying to learn it! I really wish we could have started studying it earlier because it feels like its that part of the language that is always done last so we never get to spend much time on it- and it’s the most complicated. It has been really fun though to watch everyone get better at using the forms in everyday life!

Wednesday:

LAST DAY OF OFFICIAL CLASSES!!! Woo!

We had all day grammar again which ended up being taken up completely by everyone sharing their neighborhood projects. When you have 15 students and each one talks for 5-10 minutes you use up time pretty quick! It was interesting to hear about where people have been living here and how that compares to their home in the US but after the 7^th person it all starts to sound the same. During the second hour I ended up translating the lyrics to “Aaron’s Party” into Spanish just to stay awake. It was actually pretty challenging and great practice for my Spanish skills so I think I’m going to try to do stuff like that more often!

      In the afternoon we had our final for Theology. It was actually pretty simple, I knew all of the information it was just a lot of writing to do, especially in Spanish. Plus my stomach wasn’t feeling too hot so that was an added bonus. I was so relieved when I finished. It’s nice to have something like that done, although I still don’t believe we could already be that far along in the program.

      After the final a few of us snuggled into the couches and watched Twilight. SO FUNNY! I was thrilled to be relaxing and finally be sharing the hilarity with my fellow students. We watched the movie until the students started showing up for English class, which was pretty relaxed this week as always. We did the hokey pokey, played a travel version of Monopoly, and everyone talked about where they are from. Its always fun to see the Costa Ricans, they’re really nice people and we always have a good time.

Thursday:

      We had the pleasure of finishing up our mini-proyectos on Thursday, which actually wasn’t that bad. We went to two parks and a funky little museum and were able to finish up around noon. All three were in San José though and just going back and forth takes a lot out of you. On the way back we found a cute little smoothie place in Heredia where we got lunch. I was so happy with my cheap but delicious sandwich and smoothie!