Settling into Classes

Today was the second day of classes and I spoke with my teacher about switching into the advanced one class. She told me I could and helped me fill out the paperwork. Due to Tico time, I was not able to switch classes until the break at 10:00. I went to the other building to talk with the advanced teacher and she did not seem to be happy about the idea of a class transfer. She said I could try the class but that she would not make any guarantees.  The teacher was not rude but seemed to be very intense.  The other students said they had about three hours of homework a day and that it was their only class. It did not sound like how I wanted to spend my time in Costa Rica. I decided to stay for the rest of the class to see what it was like anyways. The material was mostly new to me, but the main difference just seemed to be the workload. I like their reading assignments much better because they were more difficult and interesting, but I realized that there is a big difference between my spoken and written grammar. I think that my Spanish reading and comprehension level is much higher than my grammar.  After the class I decided to return to Intermediate two. I liked the challenge of the advanced class but I do not want to spend all of my time here in Costa Rica doing homework. I would rather have an easier mostly review class, with some new grammar points since I am not here for a whole semester.

After class the API group met up with Francy to talk about our excursion this weekend to Braulio Carrillo national park and to get our cell phones. Since I already bought one in the US she and I caught a bus into San Jose (my first time) to go to the SIM card store. It only took about 15 min and it only cost 200 colones, or 50 cents. We could easily walk to the store from where the bus dropped us off near the center of town.  We got the SIM card after a short wait. Everything was going fine; I bought the chip with no problems and opened up a phone line. We put the chip in my phone without problems, and then it turned it on.  Once the phone was on their was an immediate problem, for some reason my phone would not connect to the Costa Rican network. The man in the store said that I would need to reconfigure and unlock it. All the stress and problems from buying a phone that would work in Costa Rica and it still doesn’t work. Francy is going to see if she can get me another cell phone so that I can use one here (dumb ASU rule)…  Meanwhile, I have a phone that cost 70 dollars that doesn’t work, and phones in costa Rica are actually only 30 dollars and not hard to get anymore.  On the bright side, since the phone will at least turn on now, I know what time it is. Apparently  clocks in public places are not common in Costa Rica, my guess is that it has to do with the whole polychromic/tico time culture down here which is very peaceful. However, for the monochromic, time conscious American, not ever knowing what time it is, is annoying.

My evening class was awesome. I really love the professor, and we started learning about the history of conservation in Costa Rica and why they’re model is so unique. It was just the kind of thing that I love, and its really nice to be back in your element after a day where you have to consciously think and communicate in a foreign language. We got out of class early and went straight to the shuttle which we had missed the day before. Ironically you need your address to take the shuttle. Addresses in Costa Rica are very ambiguous things, they don’t use the streets as addresses, and instead you navigate by landmarks. For example, the address of my house is 50 meters south of Colegio Rosario, the building on the left. Even if you knew the street address of where you wanted to go, the taxis and Costa Ricans wouldn’t. To navigate the streets in this country you need to be part of the elite club which knows the important landmarks.  When Randdie and I got back from class, we talked and ate with Sophie and Ruth and played card games. We also decided to go to the movies on Friday which only cost --- dramatic pause---$3.50!!That’s right, the US is officially the winner of the over-priced movie market.