First days of school

Monday was supposedly the first day of school. But all we did was get our photos taken for our identification cards, have an oral interview, and attend a somewhat unnecessary assembly. I was done by about 1. I tried to figure out how to buy an excursion package from the school's mini travel agency but all they could tell me about was the trip happening this weekend. They didn't have a list of options, or where I could go in the future. I was frustrated by the disorganization and that seems to be a common thread here.

Yesterday was the first real day of classes. The online test placed me in Avanzado 2 and after the oral interview, my interviewer placed me in Avanzado 1. After two days in the first level, I'm really glad that I didn't insist on trying to be a smarty pants. Already I know I'm going to have to work several hours each night just to understand all the material. This is way different than Spanish at Central. This is real. It requires a lot of brain power and concentration (at least for me since languages don't necessarily come easily for me).

Why is my class so difficult? Our homework for today was to describe certain prepositions. How do you define por, hasta, or con without translating? It's hard! So el Diccionario Real Academico Española is my new best friend. It had most of the answers I needed. I had more homework for tonight that is mostly done; I just have some more reading to do, maybe check some of my answers, and perhaps read ahead if I get bored. I don't have a lot to entertain myself with other than the internet, and things that are fun time sucks, like watching movies or tv shows, aren't available to me unless I go to the hacker websites... which I have absolutely no talent at navigating. Going outside after dark is not really an option. Walking around by myself is not really an option. So that leaves me the dregs of the internet, fuzzy tv, homework, and socializing with the other people in my house.... when they're home.

Three of the other girls in the house, Stephanie, Kristi and Roscio, are all nursing majors from Wisconsin. I'm out of school by 3 and them at 6. Without boring you with further details, suffice to say our schedules only overlap during the lunch hour and after dinner.

Yesterday I was supposed to have my first day of photography class. All of us in it showed up, sat down, and waited 20 minutes for the professor who never showed. One of the kids caught a school employee and she told us that he wouldn't be coming. We learned today that he was in a car crash. I guess everything is okay. He honestly looks like he belongs at Evergreen. He's very artsy looking, with a semi-maintained beard, hair to his chin, a lot of woven bracelets, and jeans that were somehow skinny but baggy at the same time. He's also young, only 24, and I know at least two of the students are older than him. It appears as though the class is aimed at beginners, which might be a little boring at first but I can keep myself occupied by composing an eloquent "shut the hell up" speech to an extremely annoying girl who insisted on sitting in the front and talking to the professor in Spanish. He was replying in English and after a few exchanges he asked her to only speak in English because it wasn't fair to the beginner-level Spanish students and later on in the course it would be harder to translate the photographic vocabulary. (The class is being taught in English.) This didn't stop her from interrupting him to ask questions that were only relevant to her, or to add a personal aside, or to try and clarify something he said that was completely obvious to everyone else. This happened throughout the class. Me and those near me exchanged incredulous looks each time she was rude enough to add something irrelevant or completely personal. When he spoke about overexposure and underexposure, she took out her camera to show him one of her photos and ask him what she could do to make it better. I was blown away by her audacity to think that she was in a private tutoring session rather than a class of 20. What an imbecile. Anyway, it will be good to review the basics of photography before I find time to go out and explore the city with my camera.

A schedule of excursions wasn't available to me in advance but almost everyone I know/have met here is going to Tamarindo Beach this weekend. The trip is being offered through the school's travel agency, Tico Viajero, and so since I have no plans and should only have a tiny bit of homework, I decided to go. It cost $110. At first it seemed really steep, but I took two days to think about it and there's no way you could go to Ocean Shores or Seaside for three days for $110. When Rey and I went to Seaside, we spent $500 on gas, lodging, food, and thought that was a pretty good deal for a long weekend. So today I paid for the trip. It includes transportation (about 4 or 5 hours), a few meals, and a place to stay. I get the feeling that we're staying in some kind of little bungalows. We leave Friday at 1 and return sometime on Sunday. I doubt I'll be able to blog from there (and I'm definitely not taking my computer) so it might be Monday or Tuesday before I can post about it here.

Also, today is Rey's 23rd birthday. Happy Birthday from Costa Rica!