The first day of school

Today was the first day of school. The attendance is light this time of year so instead of the 7:30 they mentioned in my original itinerary, I was able to hold off until 8. Zeneida walked with me to the school and introduced me to the receptionist before she returned home. It's amazing that she's pushing 70 and can still walk a mile non-stop!

The placement exam consisted of a short conversation with one of the professors. We talked about where I was from, where I'd lived, where I grew up and what I did last Christmas among other things. I was first put in the Intermediate 1 class, but the professor, Vanessa, decided I was a better fit in Intermediate 2. There were four students in I-2 – me, Tara, Jana and Patricia, plus our professor Silvia. Silvia was funny; when she introduced me to the rest of the class, she said, "¡Tenemos un chico en nuestra clase!" We talked about reflexive and reciprocal verbs, which included verbs about relationships. As expected, our practice conversations got a little saucy at times, but it was all in good humor and kept the morning lively.

After class, a few of us took a short tour around Heredia. The central market here is a treasure trove of fresh fruits, food vendors and the like. Our tour guide Evelyn recommended a few restaurants near the school. Typical in Costa Rica are bistro/café-style restaurants called sodas that serve a traditional Tico lunch, casado – a plate of rice, beans and salad accompanying a choice of meat dish. "Casado" literally means "married" – I suppose the name refers to the "marriage" of side dishes served together on one plate.

We ended up having lunch at Café Scarlett on the east side of town. Like a lot of the casual sit-down restaurants here, it had no menu; the waitress just told us the specials of the day. I had a savory plate with chicken, rice and salad, plus a glass of juice. I don't remember what the name of the juice was – cubúa, cuvúa, cujúa? In any case, it tasted great, like a light mango juice. The best thing was the price: lunch and juice all together for 1,875 colones, or $3.75!

It feels weird to sit down and write this blog in English after spending the whole day talking in Spanish. I find myself sometimes thinking of what I want to say in Spanish before I type it in English, and I'm very much starting to get used to living Spanish 24 hours a day. I hope it's a good indication of what my conversional skills will be like in four weeks.