I love being a student... It's worth it even if these first few posts end up being a little boring.

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After such a smooth travel day, things got a little “shakier” on my first night. There was an earthquake! I was so tired that, although I woke up, I convinced myself that I was dreaming. It wasn’t until the morning that I learned that there was quite a large earthquake (magnitude 5.6, whatever that means) on the border of Costa Rica and Panama. For me, this was very remarkable, as I have only experienced one before, but for my host family it was much less remarkable. However, it did give us something to talk about over the rice and beans, cheese, mango, papaya, and pineapple of our breakfast.







The earthquake also provided excellent ice-breaking material on my first day of language school. After small talk and coffee, I had a verbal test to assess my level – which was beginner – and then we got started with our courses. My group is small – only 3 students total. My course is Monday-Thursday 9am-3pm, with breaks for lunch and coffee. There are optional classes from 3-5 where you can learn salsa and Costa Rican cooking. I’m not sure if I’ll do those. Today, by the end of my classes (plus an additional orientation at the end of the day), I was wiped out!







I didn’t take any pictures today (other than the 1 quick snapshot of my school), because I was mainly trying to maintain my own sense of direction. Today, one of my “host sisters” accompanied me on the bus to and from school so that I could get my bearings. Tomorrow, I’m on my own. 😊







There are probably 50 international students at my school, and I met many of them already. I continue to appreciate how friendly fellow travelers are to each other. I have a small group of amigos that I think will be my San Jose people. We ventured out for lunch today, and we are talking about ideas for how to spend our weekend. I leave for the turtles on Sunday and I hope to put my “days off” on Friday and Saturday to good use…







Happy Memorial Day to everyone back home!

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