Wednesday...

Hello Dear Readers:

It’s been a busy few days since I posted last. It seems like when the days are packed like they have been, then it seems like so much more time has passed. As of today, I’ve officially been in the country for a week. It feels like so much longer, except that we’re still in the very beginning of our classes!

Yesterday we began our “Core Seminar” of classes. It’s going to be full of history, discussion, opinion formation, and so much more. It seems to me that in a month of Core Seminar classes, I’ll be forced to think much more critically than I’m used to doing in a semester or even a year. This is probably good for me!

This week also marks the beginning of our Spanish language studies. I was placed in a group 8 class (group 1 being the basic class and 10 the most advanced), which I feel to be appropriate so far. We’re jumping right into dealing with issues that I know that I struggle with, so that’s definitely a good sign. We have grammar classes and conversation classes every afternoon, which is definitely a good thing – it keeps things mixed up and going. I’m in these classes with 4 other people, so it’s a nice size for the class.

As we’ve been going through this week, the most common feel is that we feel like kindergartners. We sit eating our lunch together, asking questions like “What did your mom pack you for lunch today?” and saying things like, “That looks good, I wish I had that in my lunch!” When I came home on Monday after traveling “by myself” (with one other student) for the first time, everyone in the family had to ask “Did you get lost?”

You may laugh, and I do laugh at that as well, but I was scared to death last week when I saw the buses I had to take. To get to my Core Seminar class, it’s about 1 hour and 15 mins. to get there (in the morning). If I need to go to Spanish class from my house, it’s about an hour. When we go from Core Seminar to Spanish class, we take taxis because it saves time!

So, it’s been an adventure in transportation, to say the least. But, I feel like I’m making the transition from small town to huge city fairly well. I’ve navigated my way through Central San Jose and even bought a few things in stores (after figuring out my size shoe in Costa Rican sizing instead of US sizing!).

So, it’s been a great few days. I pray that you are all doing well with classes, work, or the like. You are always welcome to send me e-mails and I’ll try to respond to you individually. When I’m on the internet, it’s plenty fast, and I’m hoping to check at least 1-2 times a week.

Que Dios le bendiga