Into the woods

Today was the end of Week 1. We had to write hypothetical questions to ask our fellow students. The subject matter ranged from tame ("What would you do if you had all the money in the world?") to philosophical ("Would you rather be blind all your life or lose your sight in an accident?") to a little bit saucy ("What would you do if you discovered your destination was a nude beach?" or "If your boyfriend had a one-night stand while you were together, would you want to know?"). It's been a really enjoyable week, and even though I already had a firm grasp on the grammar we covered, the speaking practice was very helpful. I've become much more comfortable with the language than I was even a week ago, even on occasion making jokes in Spanish (some of which aren't repeatable here). I'm going to miss the class – we always fun talking about interesting topics, and got to know a lot about each other. Silvia has been a great professor – very friendly, personable, patient and warm-hearted.


A group of us from Intercultura are trekking into the back roads of Costa Rica this weekend. Afterwards, two of us go direct to the Sámara campus to continue our studies. Since we're leaving straight after class, I packed all my things last night, then this morning hugged Zeneida goodbye, put all my luggage in a taxi and rode over to the school. The half-mile trip was 530 colones ($1.06) which is less than what it would cost just to sit in a taxi in the U.S. without moving an inch. Zeneida wished me well and asked me to call her once I got to Sámara. Ken and Ellie are looking for an apartment right now and will have moved out of Zeneida's by the time I get back to Heredia, so I'll miss sitting down and having dinner with them every night. They'll still be around, though, so we'll get a chance to get together at least once before I leave Costa Rica.

In any case, it's time to hop in that tour van and experience the rural beauty I came to see!