The start of month 2

I’m a bit behind on blogging. This past week has been a whirlwind! I’ll have to make this short though because I’m heading to the beach soon. :) To start off, coming back from Manuel Antonio was a weird feeling. I actually felt like I was coming “home.” This place is starting to feel less and less temporary and more like an actual home to me. The day after I got back, the new group of students arrived and I got a new roommate. I was kind of worried since I knew nothing but her name but I was extremely relived when we clicked right away. Her name is Sarah and she’s getting her masters degree in Spanish at the University of Alabama. She’s pretty much fluent in Spanish which is definitely a plus since I still have a little trouble communicating with Letecia. 

Since there’s a whole new group, they had another orientation, which I didn’t have to go, but went to anyways to meet everyone. I was so overwhelmed walking into the orientation and seeing so many people. I knew this group was going to be a lot bigger but it’s so weird going from our small little group last month to now this. My little social butterfly inside me was like, “How am I going to meet all of these people?!” Despite there being so many people, I’ve already made some awesome new friends. 

A few days after they got here, the new group had their trip to Volcano Poas/La Paz Waterfall gardens, which we had already done last month, so Courtney and I decided to take a little mini vacation to Jaco, which is the closest beach to San Jose. We got there later in the afternoon and went and got a hostel (not as nice as the other ones we’ve had) and went to dinner and out that night. The next day we went to the beach and then got the bus home late that afternoon. It was nice to have another little mini vacation before classes started up the next day! 

The first day of classes this week was probably the only “bad day” I’ve had since I’ve been here. I went to my new class and was immediately overwhelmed. Our teacher went straight into “reviewing” a topic that I had never learned before and was only speaking in Spanish. I kept looking around the room hoping someone else in there was just as lost as I was but everyone seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. It was kind of like that feeling when you’re in the deep end or out in the ocean and you catch a cramp and you’re doing everything you can just to not drown. Okay maybe that’s a bit dramatic and that’s never actually happened to me but you get what I mean. It was a bad feeling. I think it’s pretty easy for people to read my emotions on my face and my teacher must have seen my “what the heck are you talking about/I’m so lost” face because she pulled me aside after class. I didn’t want her to think I was a total idiot so I made sure to tell her that I have only been learning for a month and she agreed that this class was probably going to be too much for me to handle, which I definitely agreed with. Only problem was there wasn’t a lower class so my only option was to switch teachers the next day and hope for the best. Also, this was the class I need for my requirements to graduate. I was so worried that entire day that the other class was going to be just as hard and I was doomed for this month. I went and found some people after class who were in the other class and talked with which made me feel a lot better because they seemed to be more on my level of Spanish knowledge. Regardless, I still had myself a nice little pity party when I got home that afternoon and felt really sorry for myself. Again, I was being a tad dramatic this day. We all have those days :) But alas, my wonderful new roommate is studying to be a Spanish teacher and she had a textbook she brought with her that she thought might help me. I spent that entire night trying to play catch up to get to what we had covered in class that day. I even passed up a trip to Chicago with all of my friends. Who am I?!

The next morning, I went and switched into the new class and nervously went and sat down after they had already been having class for 30 minutes. I’ll do another analogy to let you know how it was. You know when you’re in the car or almost home and you all of a sudden have to go to the bathroom REALLY bad? Every single time it happens you think “I have NEVER had to go THIS bad!!” When you finally get to go it’s like you have no worries at all anymore. Okay, well that’s what it felt like going into my new class :) It was such a relief. They were reviewing things that I had in fact learned last month and everyone seemed to be on about the same page as me. I love my new teacher and my classmates are really fun. I’m not doomed! It also turns out that even though that was the same class, it was a big more advanced. Whew. My teacher still only speaks Spanish in class, but it’s much easier to follow than the one the first day. Even though this class is “easier” than my first one, this first week of classes has definitely been challenging. I’ve had to study and do homework waaay more than I did last month (which is why I’m behind on my blog). We had our first test/presentation yesterday and I think I did okay. We’ll see on Monday though! Cross your fingers.

This past week, Letecia also had some family in town from Miami. They’re Costa Rican but have lived in the states for a long time. They weren’t staying here at our house, but every night all of them and all of the family that lives in San Jose would come over here. I met so many new faces and it was so lively every night. It’s typically pretty quiet over here so it was nice to change the pace up a bit. 

This weekend while the new group is at Tortuga for the day, my friend Connie and I are going to do another little trip to Playa Dominical which is a few hours away from San Jose. I want to take advantage of my free days and see as much of Costa Rica as I can! Until next time, amigos.