No more classes
Trip Start
Apr 02, 2003
1
4
11
Trip End
Jul 25, 2003
San Jose,
Costa Rica
Saturday, April 26, 2003
My time here has been fascinating on several levels.
Discovering and exploring a new city is always a rush: new customs, streets, bars, restaurants, places and people. I have enjoyed this high four times now (DC, London, NYC and now San Jose), and there are few experiences so gratifying as the first time a new city feels familiar and, if even only marginally, provides that relaxed comfort of home. There are still whole areas of this town that I have barely set foot in, but I feel like I have tasted its delicacies, stayed up late conversing with it and made a new cement freind.
Living with an unfamiliar family has been interesting but, if I were to repeat this experience, I might choose another family. I had plenty of freedom and independence and was very well fed, but there end the truly positive points. There is no such thing as a family meal in their house, family time is silent and held before the hypnotic flickering altar of TV and one does not get a whole lot of loving vibes. The mother is a freindly workhorse out of another century who spends her days cleaning, cooking and taking care of random students who, I think, contribute significantly to the family income. Thankfully, I have had it better than some of the other students, so I should not complain, but these three weeks have been a fascinating and slightly dissapointing look into how a very different family operates.
I do highly remommend the immersion method as the best way I know of to learn a language. I think my Spanish has improved markedly and I feel confident moving forward and learning the rest on my own. I am tempted, in several months, to add to these 3 weeks with another week or two up in Guatemala, where they have many, similar, but cheaper, language schools. We'll see if that still seems to make sense when the time comes.
Thus concludes this introductory period of baptism and learning.
Pura vida.
