The first week

Hey guys!

I'm back for my second post to tell you all about my classes and what my routine is starting to look like. 

I am taking only 2 classes right now. I am taking an excellerated Spanish class. This means that for 4 hours every day, from 8am to Noon, I am in a Spanish class. The class is Advanced Spanish 1, which is the third highest class that I can be in here. We focus on reading, speaking and grammar mostly. My other class is Introduction to Translation. The class is only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and is from 1pm to 3pm. In this class we simply translate stuff from English to Spanish. It's fairly easy, but has a lot of busy work. It will last for the whole 12 weeks that I am here.

My classes are very intense, it seems to be much more so than in America. This is because my classes are all in Spanish, and my Spanish Language class is only 4 weeks long, so we're already almost a quarter of the way through the class. Next week is Mid-Terms already. After the 4 weeks, I will move up a Spanish class and will be taking Advanced Spanish 2 for 4 weeks. After those 4 weeks I will take Advanced Conversation, which is the highest class they offer.

So far we have mainly been focusing on Costa Rican phrases and trying to learn aspects of the dialect here that doesn't translate to English or other Latin American countries. For example, the people here are called Ticos, not Costa Ricans, and when you ask someone to pass you something at the dinner table you say "Regalame" which literally translates to "Gift me." It is a very Tico phrase. Today we had a quiz over comprehension of a reading assignment. At first understanding the story was very difficult, but once I looked up the vocab it became fairly simple. Overall the class will be challenging, but as long as I put in the work (4 hours in class, 2 outside ever day) I should do fine in it.

With these two classes, I find myself in class for 24 hours a week and doing 12 hours of homework, which is more than I've had to do since high school. So, I mostly find myself doing homework or relaxing from all he work. Because of this, I haven't had too much time to go out and explore San José. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get out and see the city.

Right now I am sitting in my room, listening to a Thunder Storm roll through outside. It rains here a lot. The other day it rained for almost 6 straight hours, and that was a downpour for all 6 hours. I feel like the weather here is very similar to Portland. It's usually not raining in the morning, then about noon or 1 ish it starts to rain, then it rains for the rest of the day. But here, it's to the extreme. It's hot when it's not raining, and it pours when it rains. But, we will be through the rainy season in about a month to a month and a half. Then, it'll rain...

I am currently attempting to make friends here, it just has been hard to be very social while trying to adjust to a new schedule and routine AND do all the school work I have to do. But, tonight is the "Crash Party" at school. I don't know what that means, but it's basically a Back to School of Welcome to School party. I also met someone who invited me to an evangelical church down here, so I will be going to that on Sunday probably. Also, next weekend I am going to PUERTO VIEJO!! :D :D :D I am soooooooo stoked for this!! We are going to be on a Caribbean beach and go snorkeling and play in the water. Ahh! So excited! The school offers excursions to international students, we just have t pay for them. Some students paid for this through the program that they came with, but I didn't come through a program so I have to pay for any I want to go on. Because of this, I think I will go on maybe 2 or 3 while I am here. Especially when it's PUERTO VIEJO!! Plus, it'll only cost me about $100 for everything (food, transportation, activities, hotel), which is good compared to this weekends trip to Monteverde, which costs $200 (and doesn't even involve snorkeling :P).

Anyways, hopefully I will be able to meet people through these events and really settle in here. I feel like I am not quite settled yet.

But, this is getting long, so I'll wrap it up now. Hopefully pictures of my family next time

Nick Culbertson
Vayan con Dios