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.

The sun oh so rises

I woke up bright and early with the sunrise this morning. When I got out of bed I thought it was already close to 8 o'clock – rather, it was barely past 6. The sun rises much earlier here with the passing of the equinox and no DST, plus it shines more brightly and more directly.

I sauntered downstairs and took my first shower in Costa Rica. Yes, we do have hot water here, but it's not centralized. Instead, the water heater is built right into the showerhead. That's right – inside the showerhead is a small electric heating element that powers up as soon as you start the water. To make sure the heater is working, you have to turn up the water until the unit buzzes. To us Yanks, a buzzing electrical appliance is usually cause for alarm, but here it's just another everyday thing that makes Latin American life so interesting.

We're nearing the end of the rainy season here. The pattern each day has been true to what I've read. It's bright and sunny in the morning, then the clouds roll in and it rains for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Typically it's only heavy for about half and hour, and light the rest of the time. Ken, Ellie and I walked around downtown for a little bit to grab a late lunch and pick up some last-minute school supplies. We didn't eat too much since it was about 3 in the afternoon and we'd be having some of Zeneida's home cooking in a few hours. Her food has been delicious! She always slices up plates of fresh guava and pineapples for breakfast. Tonight we had a tasty soup called crema de ayote. The ayote is a gourd similar to a pumpkin, so the soup was something like a pumpkin bisque.

Tomorrow I wake up bright and early to take my oral placement exam at 7:30. The school is about a ten-minute walk from here, and I'm looking forward to getting some nominal exercise since there's not a lot of open space around here to run. I can't wait to see what the class is like and what activities the school has in store.