La Primera Semana

For the first time in a few (cough cough) years, I have completed a full week of classes.  The learning curve for figuring things out was much less than I thought it would be.  From finding my way around campus to figuring out the buses, all has gone very well.  It's hard to imagine that this trip is 25% done already!

There are some really amazing people in the MLSA program.  There are some very rich discussions in our classes because of the varied experiences we all bring to the table.  Both of my classes are small.  The first one is Methods of Teaching Spanish as a Second Language.  There are only 7 of us in there, and I love it.  The profesor is phenomenal, and it's been good to see how Plano fits into the history and methodology we are studying.  After that, I have Topics in Latin American Culture.  The professor is extremely passionate and animated about the things we discussed, and I think at this point, we have discussed just about everything!  There are 6 people in that class, and the subject is very intriguing to me.  The longer I am here, the more parallels I see between the United States and Costa Rica politically, socially and economically.  I won't bore you with the specifics, but I find it all very intriguing.

We have been on a couple of tours so far.  We have gone to Volcano Poas and La Paz Waterfalls (slide show in the last post) where we got to see some amazing wildlife and (most of) the crater of a volcano.  The butterfly on my hand did not want to let go, but did go to someone else who also happened to be from Texas.  It didn't want to let him go either, and we joked that he was trying to escape the butterfly area to Texas.  As soon as we said that, he flew away.  I presume he was trying to avoid the excessive heat.

We have also gone to the National Theater, 

(hi, LeAnn!)

and Cartago, the original capital of Costa Rica, along with the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles.  

         ruins of the original basilica that 

                      never got finished

                         Finished Basilica 

On each trip, we have been with Monica, my favorite guide in the universe.  Here is a completely awful picture of her doing her thing...

She is amazing!  She knows so much about her country, and is so clearly in love with it,  that you have no choice but to love it, too.  We are going to Tortuga Island tomorrow for some much needed beach time, but sadly, Monica will not be with us.  I'm hoping to get a better picture of her on Tuesday when we go to the National Museum.  

For right now, though, I have to finish up because we have to be at the bus by 5:50am to leave on our trip.  ¡Que dios le acompañe!