Classes and Arkansas

I woke up at 5h30 this morning to take a shower and to get ready for my first day of classes in el barrio Escalante in San José. William made me a breakfast of warm date bread with four slices of papaya, the worst fruit I have ever tasted in my life. It had the texture of a rotten carrot with a very weak sugar water taste that was hard to swallow. I was able to manage all but half of the last piece so I wrapped up my date bread and threw out the rest of the fruit. William and I left for Tammy and walked down to the bus stop in front of my house. After five minutes it came down, I paid my 245 colones (about 50 cents) and rode the bus through the broken down sections of San José into the area near the school. After leaving the bus we walked along the train tracks for a while until we came onto the little side road with Intensa, my Spanish school. I was tested and put on the spot with an interview from the director and then placed back in the waiting room with Tammy, a guy from Canada, and Kayla from Arkansas. Both Kayla and me were pulled aside and told that our class did not start until 1pm since there were no teachers to teach our level. So we were given a map of the city and we went to explore. From hardware shops to a bank, to a side café and to the parque central we walked and walked around San José and really got to know the city. In the day time, on a weekday, minus the hobos on every street corner, homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks, trash on the ground, the barbed wire, crazy driving, pick pocketing, stealing, and the dirtiness of the buildings and streets, San José could somewhat be considered a nice city! Everything is cheap, everyone is hot and extremely well dressed and takes care of themselves, some buildings are impressive, and it’s a big city. After walking around for about 6 or more miles and about four hours later we ended up on our way back to the school to start our class. Of course the daily winter down pour didn’t decide to skip a day and we got caught in the “aguacero” but we were able to get to Intensa in time to avoid the lightning and flooding. The rain was so bad today that the power went out numerous times during class and even back in Moravia. I was put in the 10th and highest level of Spanish class with Kayla and that was it…our entire class. I was kind of disappointed but at the same time it makes you talk more and learn more. I really struggled with the grammar portion while she struggled with the speaking portion so we kind of balanced each other out. Four hours later I was on a bus back to el centro de Moravia, got home to chickpeas and pork with rice and avocado slices sprinkled with salt, and talked with my host parents about my day and where I should go on the weekend. I bonded with Johanna, the daughter, today and spoke to her in Spanish and then in English so she could practice too. The night ended on a conversation of UFO’s and Williams experience as a child seeing one in front of the moon. Hopefully tomorrow (if Kayla got my facebook message) we can take the bus to San José and go for lunch with Tammy when her class lets out. Then hopefully we can rent a room this weekend down by the beach! Who knows what’s next: Zip-lines, volcanoes, rainforests, the beach, more BEAUTIFUL San José (lol). Whatever it is I’m sure I’ll make the best of it.