Day 26 - Palm Grasshoppers and Ninjas

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Started a new class today "Business Spanish." All we did was read from a packet for 2 hours. You know those classes where you would rather be almost anywhere else than sitting there doing whatever you are doing? I just can't seem to understand what makes professors think that we enjoy, or even learn from, just reading a packet the whole time. Now, syllabus day is different. I do enjoy when on the 1st day teachers just give you a syllabus, scan over it, and then let you leave an hour and a half early. I'm ok with that. It's like being rewarded for dragging your tired self to class the first day. But if theres the kid that raises their hand and asks if we have homework at the end of that class..... oh man... thats a rant for another time.

I went for a run in the POURING rain. I love doing that. That's what I get for growing up in Seattle. I don't even like running when it's sunny out. That's miserable to me. Unless it's freezing. Give me a downpour and I'm out there. If you enjoy this too, let me know and we can run together. Also, I'm training for a marathon, so if you would like to make that a life accomplishment, let me know and we can form a team.

After running I went to dance class which I wish happened more often. It's a blast, but I feel like the class doesn't move quickly enough. Oh well. Maybe mom will give me more lessons when I get home.

This section is a shout out/response to Andy Wilburn:
It was our program director's, Jose Miguel, birthday today so we went out to a bar called El Cuartel. It's one of the hottest places in San Jose. They have live music on Monday nights, so it's PACKED. It's $6 for guys to get in, but that includes a ticket for a drink. Still a little steep though. Turned out the live music was worth it though. They played a lot of Bob Marley and incredible renditions of Santana songs. The best part of the night for all us crazy "gringos" (white people) was when they suddenly busted out a Credence Clearwater Revival song. It was obviously for all the white folks there, entirely random. It's like when an Enya song somehow shows up on your gangsta rap or punk rock playlist. We all danced a lot though, for a couple hours, just a ton of locals jamming to funky live rhythms. It's something that I think might be tough to find in the U.S. in terms of atmosphere. Right before we left, a buddy and I went to sit down at table and a random drunk guy walked up and pulled out a grasshopper made of palm tree branches and started making it "crawl" on my buddy's back and then told him, "here, dis fore you. Eet is very especial." Then he walked away. I still don't know what to think. Then a fight broke out right in front of us and security popped out of NOWHERE so quickly that you would think they were trained ninjas.

My roommate Matt got the grossest hot dog I've ever seen outside the club and on the way home, the taxi driver we had told us he had seen Mel Gibson do coke at a sketchy place in northwest Costa Rica. What a weird night.

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Photos

The Birthday Boy
Pretty much all the ISA program girls with our director on his birthday at the club El Cuartel.

Money-makin
Me with my dough. Yea, it's gold.

Dancin'
On the dance floor. That's my weird roommate in the background.

Hopper
The palm branches grasshopper my friend Nick was given.

Comments

[flan the man]

I like the bar stories and the taxi cab confessions.