Today was the first day of classes... it was awesome! I mean, besides the fact that all lectures tend to get a little boring. The ACM building is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen... it is extremely different than the places I am used to learning at in the United States. The building is actually an old house that has been converted into our school. The classroom has sliding doors that open the whole back wall to the outside where we have a beautiful garden... not to mention that the scenery is amazing. When you look outside the class, you see a beautiful mountain range and views that I cannot do justice by just describing. In the next couple of days I am going to take a whole bunch of pictures to post on this blog so everyone can understand how beautiful Costa Rica is. Keep in mind that I have only seen a VERY small portion of the places that Costa Rica has to offer.
Back to the classes... Today we had to sign a contract saying that we would only speak Spanish throughout this trip. At first I thought this was a terrible idea and that it would be impossible for me to do, but now I understand why it is so important. Throughout the day I struggled to communicate with my classmates about all different things...but I really had no trouble understanding all that the instructors were presenting. When my mom picked me up at 5 from school, she even noticed a difference in how well I was communicating. She told me that my Spanish language skills changed like day and night!
After school, my mom prepared dinner right away. She told me I have to eat well so that I could do all my homework with "a strong brain." She is really cute about some things... like this morning after a breakfast of all sorts of fresh-cut fruit, she insisted that I take an apple for a snack before lunch. She told me that the key to a good day at school is to be well-fed (and I definitely don't mind). Speaking of food- the director of ACM offered to bring all sorts of fresh fruit from his organic farm for us to eat as snacks during the day... I am so pumped! Today he brought a whole bunch of fresh bananas. Let me tell you, we don't do bananas justice in the States.
At school I learned that I live in one of the most well-off families in the program. My family has 2 cars, a house with 2 stories, WI-FI, etc. A lot of the students aren't as lucky... it really makes me appreciate what I have. Also, a lot of the students only have one parent or have families that are very solitary. Both of my parents asked me at dinner if I needed any help with my homework... and they tried their hardest to explain anything that I didn't understand. It was funny because it took us all like 10 minutes to describe little concepts because we had to work around words that the others weren't familiar with, but I learned a lot. It is nice that they are so willing to help me.
Until next time when I can post some pictures!! =)
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