It's Been a While

¡Hola mis amores!

It's been a while since I've last blogged; mainly because I haven't traveled, so I feel like I don't have too much to tell you all about. But, I've come up with a few things. So here it goes...

--Classes. Aren't that bad, actually. I have to write a paper in Spanish for my Historia de Costa Rica class. But so far, things are going well with school. I like the classes I'm taking and I only have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Which is amazing. I start my weekend on Wednesday at about 3 pm. :) I'm excited to start my tutoring program next week. I will have a Spanish tutor that I meet with 2 times a week. It will be me, my tutor, and one other American girl. I'm excited to get some personalized help.

--Speaking Spanish. Is going well. I have really high expectations for myself, so of course I'm feeling like I'm doing doing great. But I'm constantly getting encouragement from my family and other classmates/friends. I can pretty much always get the gist of what someone is saying, but often miss the particulars. I'm also learning lots of local slang. The language here in CR is very informal, and there is a lot of slang that is used with everyone.

--Walking. I do a lot of it everyday. My walk to school is 25 solid minutes, so I'm definitely getting my exercise in. Today my mom saw me walking home because she was coming home from the grocery store, and she commented on how fast I walk. She then continued by saying what good exercise walking is, and that pretty soon I'm going to look like..... "a Barbie." I said, I doubt it, but I sure hope so. Haha

--Dancing. I haven't done as much of this as I'd like. But I did go to my host parents' surprise 40th anniversary party and got to dance there. The next day my mom told me that everyone was talking about it. Of course, I assume it's just because I was the only NOT Costa Rican person at the party. But, apparently, not only was I the only white girl, but I was the first white girl that they had seen that knew how dance the Latin dances that they do here. Needless to say, I'm incredibly grateful for my Social Dance class teachers from last year at UT.

Well, I think those are a few highlights. I really have just been going to class and hanging out in Heredia for the past few weeks, so I don't have many exciting stories. But, I definitely love being here. Even the small things like going to school are so different, and I am so grateful for every mundane experience here. Because it's here. I'm in Costa Rica. And I'm being immersed in another culture. How amazing is that? The little mundane things aren't really mundane because they're done in a new place with new sounds, new smells (not always good, but Knoxville doesn't always smell great either, ya know.), and with new people.

I'm learning to truly appreciate God's handiwork. I live in a very urban setting, but basically every time I stop to wait for cars to pass so that I can cross the road, I look up and see these gorgeous mountains. It's incredible. Every time I see them, it hits me that I'm in Costa Rica. That I'm in a lush, tropical part of Central America. That's ridiculous. I'm very blessed, and very grateful.

Thanks for reading. Sorry I wasn't a very organized writer today, but I've been up since 530 (yes, I have to be at class at 7 am. eek!), and so I'm feeling lazy. Hope you all are well and keep the prayers coming, please! :)