So, here in this blog, I've written a memorial, described the book aquiring process, written some pros and cons about the country and made a (less-than) dramatic confession about my chosen vocation, among some other things. What I seem to have failed to do is describe my life, as I know it, in the here and now of Costa Rica. Entonces, for those into the nitty gritty details, here follows an example of a tipical week day in Heredia:
Six o'clock rolls around, sun up and beginning to shine on the upper half of my curtained window, and I blearily awake to the sounds of my host family's 7 month old granddaughter, Daniella, being dropped off, and invariably beginning to cry. I take a glance at the clock, roll over and proceed to make a desperate attempt at sleep (usually in increments of ten minutes, just a weird thing I do) until between 6:30 and 8:00, depending on the day and just how out of sorts Daniella is. I then get up, make my bed, shower and get dressed and then go out to grab the breakfast of fruit + miscellaneous main dish (pancakes, cheese and bread, french toast, etc) that is waiting for me in the kitchen. By this time the rest of the house is going about their independent business, my padre at work, my madre taking care of Daniella, and I periodically have a few words with whoever crosses my path.
After that, I get everything ready to go, make my farewells and head off to la UNA. It's a half hour walk from my door to the central part of the campus. I was going to describe the trip, but decided it was better to just give it it's own entry later. Whether that actually happens, however, is anyone's guess.
Anyway, after the blog-worthy trek, depending on the day of the week, I go to my class in the central campus or catch the university bus up to el CIDE (another section of campus which is most inconveniently up a large hill and currently cannot be reached without going the long way around. You see, there is this river and unfortunately there was this bridge... The past tense being key.). Classes range from an hour and a half to three hours long and none of them meet more than twice a week. I'm taking a Spanish language and Costa Rican culture class along with a colonial Hispanoamerican lit course, a contemporary Spanish lit course and a course which, when translated, is called "Life, Death, Pain and Mourning." It's sort of a psych/sociology hodgepodge of disaster. I'd forgotten how much I hate freshman courses. All the others are pretty cool. I also opted for the (optional for adv. lang. students) three hours of private tutoring a week and I'm loving it and learning a ton at the same time.
I usually come home for lunch; typical fare being some sort of vegetable and meat with a side of, you guessed it, rice and beans, and if I'm lucky, a platano for dessert. After that it's time to study, either at home or wherever else I can carve out a niche for my gringa self (though leaving home to study gets problematic, I find myself people watching instead and getting nothing done).
Dinner is between six and seven, I often eat with just my madre as my padre doesn't get home from work until late, typically. We eat and chat about whatever comes up, topics as varied as common recipes in our respective countries to (one of my personal favorites) how to get a man to do whatever you want (needless to say, I was primarily listening on that one). After dinner I help clean up and do the dishes and then usually retire to my room where I read, do homework, and periodically revel in my native tongue with some tv shows in English. A travesty, I know, but every now and then you've gotta do it. And then between nine and midnight, I go to bed and it starts all over again.
Anyway, it's not the hammock-lounging-beach-gazing-surfer-ogling-tropical-paradise lifestyle that some would have it to be, but I'm okay with it. The little adventures keep things interesting. And hopefully, this weekend, I'm off to Volcan Barva...to finally get out of Heredia again :-)
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