¿Cómo anda?

How's it going?
[Costa Rican Slang]


Yesterday was such a great day! No school! Woo hoo! Yesterday was the Costa Rican national holiday of the Anexión del Partido de Nicoya (The Annexation of Nicoya), or commonly known as Guanacaste Day. July 25th celebrates the day that Guanacaste joined Costa Rica, which means that many schools and businesses were closed. Howeverrrr, the malls were not!! And we all know what that means :) (Sorry, Dad)
To start my day, I went on a run with Katie around El Parque de Dos Lagos (The Park of Two Lakes). They're not really lakes, however, they're just two ponds. But it was a nice run! For a country that places such a strong emphasis on environmental awareness, it's kind of ironic that the parks have excessive amounts of litter. 
After the run, I ate breakfast, showered, and met up with Katie, Nicole, Lily, and Caroline at Veritas. We grabbed a taxi and headed downtown to the Artesian Market. 

That's just one end of it! I got some pretty awesome stuff, which I won't describe because most of them are gifts :). We then grabbed lunch at Quizno's (why hello, Westernization), and searched for Museo de Los Niños for about an hour in the pouring rain. What a smart idea I had to not bring an umbrella! I should have known better by now! After realizing that we received 5 different directions from 5 different people, we gave up our search, hopped in a taxi, and headed to the San Pedro Mall. We decided that it was a perfect day for a movie! We saw Quiero a Matar Mi Jefe (I Want to Kill My Boss), which is the U.S.'s movie Horrible Bosses. The film was actually in English with Spanish subtitles. We thought it would be the reverse! Anyway, it was a hilarious movie. Highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good laugh. The movie didn't start until 4:30, and we arrived at the mall around 3. So, we decided to walk around and check out the stores and such. We found a smoothie stand called "Sweet Fruits" and got amazing smoothies made with fresh fruit! 

After the movie, we all headed back home. I ate dinner with Emy, Darrian, and Tonio, studied for my Spanish test, and hit the hay. 


After working out at Diamond Gym this morning, I ate breakfast, got ready for school, and headed to Veritas. In Costa Rican Health Care and Tropical Medicine, we learned about the different types of worms and their effects on the human body. Yuck! Tropical diseases are not very pretty, I'll tell you that much. They're incredibly interesting to learn about, however. I really like my teacher in that class. He's a practicing physician, but he told us from the start that he doesn't believe in tests. However, we have take-home tests and analyses that we have to write. It's not that bad of a work load, especially when you're in Costa Rica. I mean, who can study when they're in a foreign country? 
Anyway, tomorrow is the Health Fair, which makes up a large part of our grade for both Medical Spanish and Costa Rican Health Care and Tropical Medicine courses. My group had to translate a brochure from english to spanish about the proper way to wash your hands. I was assigned the responsibility of making it. It was actually kind of fun! I had never made a brochure before, and Pages has a good program for it. 
Dr. Abarcas let us out early today, so my friend Anne and I took a taxi to the Terminal del Caribe to buy our bus tickets for this upcoming weekend. Because we don't have an excursion planned for this weekend, a group of ISA students is taking a bus to Puerto Viejo. Beach time!! Pray for good weather! After buying our tickets, I went home, worked on the brochure for tomorrow, ate lunch, then headed to Spanish class. 
In Spanish today, we took our second and last "examen corto" (short exam). Corto...yeah RIGHT! It took us an hour and a half to complete this time! The first exam took maybe 30 minutes at most. As a result, I didn't get out of class until 6:30. I was completely brain dead. Luckily, Emy had dinner ready so she, Tonio, Darrian, and I sat down and ate a dinner of sauteed veggies and arroz de calamares (rice with squid). Interesting combo, but interestingly delicious! After dinner, I visited with Tonio and Emy for awhile. It's amazing how much easier conversations in Spanish are getting! When talking in English to other Americans, I actually find myself using some Spanish words and thinking in Spanish! It's crazy, but I'm so thankful for this opportunity to be learn another language! I'm earnestly hoping that it will benefit me in the medical field. 
After dinner, Darrian and I went to the dance class that Veritas offers. This class is getting pretty difficult, no lie! Before tonight, I hadn't been since the very first class! I was so lost, but they helped me catch up quickly. I'm becoming the regular salsa/merengue dancer! (Not really, but I'm working on it!) 
Ahora es tiempo para dormir. ¡Sueños dulces!
(Now it's time for bed. Sweet dreams!)