Hola amigos! It is day three in Costa Rica and I just returned from the beautiful beach. I must say the water is better than in Cali - because it is warmer!
Last night I spent again at my host's house being entertained by the granddaughter who is four years old. She is a very cute little girl with lots of energy! She was definitely entranced with my iTouch, but had a hard time getting the concept of how you work it. She is only four after all (but my nephew - three years old - seems to understand the concept quite well. It's all what you are exposed to I guess! Dinner was very good - the food here overall has been very good, but it was some kind of split pea soup with hot dogs, potatos and carrots; of course there was rice with the meal and platanos fried and salted - oh so good! Again, too much food! It rained all afternoon and evening, so we didn't do much but it was very nice because the temperature dropped. I went to bed and then sometime after that (this was after 10:30) the music next door began to play. It played loudly for who knows how long. At times like this I am very grateful that I am a heavy sleeper and I can fall asleep even with this going on right next to me.
This morning dawned bright and beautiful and Anne and I enjoyed a breakfast full of apples, bananas, and pineapple, along with coffee and a bologna/cheese sandwhich. Interesting combination, but overall good.
We had extra time before classes began at the school and this is when I heard my first holwer monkey. Quite an interesting sound. At first I thought is was some kind of dog doing a howl/growl type of thing. Then one of the other students mentioned it was a howler monkey. I realized that howler monkeys could really be used in horror films to make scary monster like sounds. They would be very good at that. I have yet to actually see one though - I only heard it! I also later saw my first iguana - which seemed huge - although probably not for here! On my way into town for lunch there was an iguana that ran across the road - I must liken it to seeing a cat or some other small animal running as fast as it could away from all these scary beings! Of course, there are also dogs about EVERYWHERE! They are well kept, carefree, and easygoing dogs - it's nice to see that they are taken care of here. It is so hard to see the mangy ragged dogs I've seen in other countries that just seem to scavage about for anything they can find. These dogs seem happy - like everyone here in Costa Rica. I think they bark "Pura Vida" here. Ahh...makes me miss my little perro (dog).
This morning was my first real day of classes, so I started learning how to conjegate the verbs - this explains a lot! I knew quite a bit of the vocabulary we went over today but did not understand how it is used - the grammar part of it. Then, we had a vocabulary class, which was fun. We learned all about ropas (clothing) and la cuerpa (the body). I again knew about 1/3 of the vocab, but much more detail than I already knew! Esta bueno (this is good).
For lunch, since I missed the sign-ups here at school, was had in the town. I must say that I haven't had one meal yet that wasn't quite tasty. This afternoon was beef, rice, red beans, and more plantanos (like a banana). I ate with several other students here. It is so interesting to meet the new people since they are from all over Europe - but all speak English! Then, some of us enjoyed the beach for a few hours. The water is quite nice and warm. Unfortunately the part we were at was quite rocky, but when I walked farther down it was very nice. I think that next time I will have to hang out down there and actually go in farther than just to my waist.
I stopped in a shop on the way back to look at the clothes, but bought nothing. I could actually find the same thing at home for the same price or less, so I probably will do no shopping like that here. Although, I did buy a nice vase on the beach that has some animals (esp. a turtle - one of my favorites) carved on it.
Well, I am now back awaiting my ride to my host family. I have a little time left, so I think I will go out and enjoy the pool area. If I keep up the beach going, you will see a very brown girl when I get home (oh, and spotted to, since my skin doesn't really appreciate the sun anymore). I am planning to sign up to go to Manuel Antonio park this weekend. It's in Costa Rica, but supposed to be one of the best places to go and see.
Hasta manaña!
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