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Published: February 3rd 2010
I feel I owe you all an explanation. I know it's been quite a while since my last entry, perhaps you are wondering why you haven´t heard from me. The reason I have not been updating my blog is because I was enrolled in: INTERMADIO DOS. I´ve decided to dedicate the following entry to my academic pursuits here in Costa Rica so that you will understand that I was not intentionally neglecting my faithful blog readers 😊
La Universidad de Veritas really is an impressive institution. My classes here have been much more challenging than I expected. Our days are broken into two parts, in the mornings from 8-12 the school offers intensive Spanish classes and in the afternoon we have our electives. On our first day we each took a placement test to detemine our profiency and I was placed in Intermadio dos (or Intermediate 2).
The intensive classes are very structured. Over the course of four weeks students are expected to attend 80 hours of class. You could say these classes are....Fast and Furious. But there is a reason for this madness. You see, some schools in the states (Plymouth State University being one of them) have what they call Winterims. During Winterim students have the option to take one course before beginning their second semester at the beginning of February. Because Veritas University is set up as it is, students who attend universities that have Winterims have the option to travel to Costa Rica, take one month of intensive Spanish classes, and then return to their home university without having missed anything at all. Which is actually pretty cool when you think about it.
As, with so many other things in my life, my intensive Spanish classes turned out to be better than I could have hoped. The class was very small, there were only 10 of us, and we were lucky enough to have the world´s sweetest Spanish teacher. Marielos. Marielos told us on the very first day that the most important Spanish verb was "amar". (To love). She is the kind of person who says "Gracias a Dios" (thank God) and means it. I have noticedthat many common phrases here reflect the Christian tradition of this part of the world. When I leave for school in the morning my host mother often says "Que dios le acompaña." (May God be with you.)
Marielos was extremely affectionate and referred to us all as "mi cielo" (my sky) or "mi amor" (my love) alternately throughout our month together. Very quickly I became Carita (little Cara).
Intermediate two is a nice level to be placed in because everyone is able to express themselves more or less. With practice our confindence increased and we actually got to know each other. It is a wonderful thing to be able to laugh in another language. We talked about a variety of themes as we worked our way through a myraid of verb tenses. We discussed everything from Costa´s relations with Nicaragua, to what pops into your head when you see a cute looking guy when you´re out on Saturday night.
Some students choose to take one intensive Spanish class each month. While the levels may change, the format of the class does not. At the end of the first week you watch a movie. (As you know, the students in Intermediate 2 watch The Motorcycle Diaries.) On the second Friday everyone takes their midterm. At the end of the third week most students go on a field trip to a muesum or to an outdoor market. Because three students in our class celebrated their birthdays during the month of January we had a "fiesta". And of course the last Friday is reserved for final exams.
While I loved my Spanish class I must admit that I am relieved to have it behind me now. The three elective courses I am taking here are all conducted entirely in Spanish and it was difficult to keep up with my Latin American Literature and Cinema courses on top of the homework I received in Intermediate 2. Now that I´ve finished my intensive Spanish classes, though, I have much more time on my hands. Elective courses never start before 1:00 😊
I´ve spent the last few mornings catching up on some homework and some much needed sleep, but now I´m ready to get back into gear. I joined the gym on Monday and I plan on working a little gym time into my morning routine for the next two months. How nice would it be if I came back a fluent Spanish speaker AND a fittness aficionado?
While I can´t make any promises it is my intention to work on catching you all up with my various adventures here over the next week or so. If I can, I´d like to add a short entry about a different subject every day. Also, I think I´ve finally figured out how to post pictures on here, so be on the look out for those.
Hasta lluego que Dios le acompaña.
Love,
Cara
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Pepe
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Que Dios le acompana
Hello! Very nice! I love hearing about your adventure. Two weeks from Saturday!!!