School's in Session

Hi everyone! So, today marks day 5...and things are going great. Classes started yesterday, so I'm establishing a daily routine. I'm taking 4 classes while I'm here, but the Spanish classes are done in blocks (one each month) and the electives are for three months. That means I will never have more than two classes at once! Right now, I'm taking advanced Spanish 1. It's a four hour class (from 8-12) yet somehow, it isn't that bad. Well, waking up is annoying, but actually being in class is totally tolerable. The teacher gives us a half hour break every day to get snacks and socialize. There are only thirteen people in my class, but that is actually considered to be "a lot". I love the professor. Her name is Silvana Margarita de Carmen Maranghello Musmanni; Silvana for short. So far, we have only had a little homework, like worksheets and short reading assignments. Next week, though, I have to give the first of two fifteen minute presentations. It can be about any topic, but it has to be in Spanish (obvi) and we don't really have a projector or anything available to use as a visual aid. I don't think I can even talk about one topic in English for 15 minutes, so this should be interesting.

Besides school, not too much else has happened. I've been enjoying hanging out with my family, especially one of the sisters, Ely. The family is letting me borrow a cell phone and she helped me go to the pharmacy to buy minutes so I can use it. I've also been to two malls here. One of them was indoor and basically identical to American malls, including the prices :/. I shared an interesting snack with my sisters today....green mango. It isn't very sweet, like yellow mango. They cut it into very thin strips, like shoestring french fries, and then apply toppings like vinegar, salt & pepper, and other sauces. They're really tasty!

I'm sorry I don't have any exciting pictures right now. That should change, though, because we're going to Tamarindo this weekend. While we're there, we have so many options and I can't decide if I would rather take a boat through the mangrove swamps, a sunset catamaran tour, surfing lessons, or just relax on the beach; I can't wait!