Classes

Today was my second day of classes. I was placed in the advanced Spanish class, which means lots of new vocabulary and fast speech, but I'm excited for the challenge and the opportunity. We start Spanish class at 8 and go until noon, so it is an intensive class. I am taking the Spanish for Heath Professionals course, which is exciting for me because it is something that will be very practical for a career in medicine.

The other courses I am taking are Tropical Marine Biology and Costa Rican Health Care/Tropical Diseases.

It has been very fun to get to know the other students in the program, who are from all over the U.S. I've also really enjoyed finding good places to hang out and eat. One of my favorites is this urban cafe called La Musa Confusa. "The Confused Muse." They have chai tea and red velvet cupcakes! :) And delicious pineapple smoothies.

Here is the house I am living in:

An interesting fact about the Costa Rican sense of personal space: In an hour, Costa Ricans touch each other an average of 1 time every 20 seconds! The average for England is 0 times per hour. Try touching someone every 20 seconds. It feels so strange! But then again, why don't we touch each other more? I like the sense of community here. People you don't know aren't necessarily strangers, but fellow Costa Ricans. I love it here in Costa Rica!

P.S. Salsa and Merengue classes are fun. :)

Spanish is getting easier and feeling more natural already.

Arrival

It has already been an adventure! Everything has gone very smoothly so far. Right now I am in my home, in my new bed. Emilia, the host mother, is very nice and easy to talk to. Right away she fixed me arroz con pollo, rice and chicken, which was delicious! The dogs and I love each other already.

The plane rides were easy; I had one stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. On my flight from Charlotte I happened to sit next to a guy named Seth who is also studying Spanish at Veritas! So it was nice to have someone to talk about the upcoming trip with. Not only that, he was a former IB student!! Needless to say we had a lot to talk about with comparisons of our IB experiences.

Overall, the feel of Costa Rica is very different than I expected. The humidity was quite a shock! I had no understanding of what humidity is in Phoenix. Haha. It has already been an interesting experience to express myself in Spanish. The thoughts happen much faster than the spoken words, and I'm hoping by the end of this trip those speeds will begin to match up.

I'm very excited to be here, and it is finally hitting me that I'm going to be here for 3 months. That seems like such a long time considering the length of the past day for me, but I'm looking forward to it.
Hopefully I'll have some pictures up of the house and my room soon!

Departure

It is hard for me to believe that this is part of my story! Tonight I am flying 2,400 miles to a new city, a new language, and a new lifestyle. I will be living in San José, Costa Rica for 3 months to study Spanish and Costa Rican medicine, as well as Costa Rican culture. I will be taking classes at Veritas University, which is in the heart of San José and living with a host mother named Emilia. Everything is pretty much packed and ready to go, and I'm ready to see where this new adventure takes me!