Short and Sweet

Hola mi amigos!

Yesterday and today have been very eventful! I will try to keep this post a bit shorter than usual. Both days have just been jam packed with activities and new experiences. As I mentioned before I didn't take it seriously when people said I would be exhausted by the end of the day. Well I am learning now that even by just learning I.Am.Exhausted. Seriously, all the time. But I wouldn't change anything. I know more Spanish than I thought and am learning every moment of every day, kid you not.

Yesterday feels like so far away. Only because I feel like I have so much time during the day! Which is a great feeling. Facil estar tranquilla! In the morning, we woke up and had breakfast at like 8a then walked to the ISA office. We had another orientation but this one was at Universidad Veritas (where I go to college). A girl named Precious showed us around the campus and where the good spots to hang out were. She also gave us some tips on where they like to go out at night. And not that I'm advertising being irresponsible, the nightlife is just very prominent. Being drunk in public is highly looked down upon in Tican culture. So don't worry, we mostly go out to BAILAR!

Not only did we have a tour of Veritas, we had an orientation "thing" in the auditorium with all the other groups there. I was actually a volunteer for one of the presenters! It was fun and everyone after was like oh, you're the one that went up there right? Yup, that was me. On the day I decided to wear bright pink! In this school orientation we were informed about different extra-curriculars we could participate in. There are so many! Some, like dance class, are free while others, like yoga, are $30. Still not bad at all! One thing we talked about too was how to make our experience go from OK to GREAT.
Pretty sure my experience is great so far!

Moving on-we had pizza and met students from other programs. Then all of the ISA students met at the ISA office and went for a tour in downtown San Jose. We packed like sardines on this bus! The tour was awesome, so many people...all staring at the huge group of Americans walking down The Boulevard. Ha, I'm sure that was a sight to see! I took some pictures while walking and I promise to post them later, right now I just need to get this all out!

After we got back from San Jose, Manuela, Miller, and I stayed at Veritas instead of walking home because it was POURING. Seriously, the past two days the sky has just opened up and drenched the city. And of course, thunder and lightening!

Finally it stopped raining and we could walk back home. At home I just chilled for a bit because again, exhausted! But after a while Manuela and I went and talked with mama Tica and Ale. They were talking in all Spanish and kind of fast, but I could get the general idea of what they were saying. That in itself is a huge win for me! I feel that in a month, I'll actually be able to participate in and understand these convos! I was able to put in my two cents here and there though. Yay me :)
It was so funny though because Vanessa got so caught up in talking to us she forgot about supper. She goes (in Spanish)"We'll eat next year!" Ha she has the best sense of humor. We seriously ended up talking with our family for 3-4 hours last night! It was awesome! And I'm not saying they talk we listen. Like actual conversation-that I participated in! I don't even care if I sound stupid, I just keep trying and they get my point. There is a lot of "Como se dice..." said ha.

After supper and the conversations, a bunch of ISA people got together at Los Profesionales (a sports bar type place) to hang out and dance! I'm like 98% sure that's where we will be going Thursday nights (their big night) because the DJ was rockin! He played the best music and everyone was dancing and having a blast! Yup, I can handle this for four months! I got home around 11:45 and just hit the sack. Classes started at 8am the next day! Ugh.

Well this was supposed to be one post (about yesterday and today) but I think I'm going to cut it short and do a separate post about today! I mean we still have dance class to go to!

Olive Juice Amor, xo :)

Allie

---Pictures to come!