Silly Discoveries

Marianela (another daughter) likes to listen to reggae music in both Spanish and English. That reminds me: there’s Cartoon Network in Spanish here, and more hilariously, there’s a TV show on which the participants are spun around in a chair 30 times (and the announcer keeps track by counting every turn--“Uno, dos, tres…”) and afterwards they wrestle with a man dressed up in a cape and a mask a la Nacho Libre. The show is called “Combate” (possibly “Combat”) and it’s cuter than programs like Wipeout or MXC: Most Extreme Challenge, but they’re of a similar kind.

To return to other interesting things and introduce other students: we took the placement exam today. It was like Spanish class in high school: everyone was asking one another, “How do you say ‘rainforest’ in Spanish?” and “What’s the past tense form of ‘ir’?” It created an atmosphere of collaboration and wasn’t too much of a problem (since it was mostly vocabulary questions), except for two people (possibly more in other classrooms). There was a guy using his electronic translator for the whole exam. But the goal of this program is to learn more Spanish, not struggle with it in the clases! Geez… But there are many bright spots in the program: two roommates named Brandon and Will are really fun: Brandon’s at an advanced level (though he always underestimates his Spanish skills so people don’t get too-high expectations) and he was in a Spanish club in high school. The latter fact I know because he wore a T-shirt from it today that said, “¡Haz tu vida más picante!” ("Make your life more spicy!) How cute. 

Will and I bantered a lot during the campus tour, but he was confused that I hadn’t asked my host mom yet if I could stay in her house for the second month… Haha, not everyone is as scared of being proactive as I am. After we finished the exam, I went with three other students to the mall to exchange their dollars for colones. They (Wendy, Megan, and Jenna) live in Sabanilla, but another neighborood, so hopefully we'll figure out how to  walk to school together soon.

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Oops, my host mom just came home and told me that she was worried I would be in the house alone, so she called the house multiple times… I thought someone was calling for Marianela and she was avoiding them, but it was actually my host mom… :P She’s like a real mom to me; she worries as much as my mom, hehe. Okay, I should finish my blogging for today and be a social person and hang out with her friends!