Mar
28
Spanish Class Over
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It has been more than three weeks since I signed on in the internet. A lot has happened here in Tamarindo. I have met many, many people and forged great friendships and many acquaintances as well. I can’t believe I have been here for a month now. My spanish class was finally over last week.
After three weeks in school, I can now carry some basic conversation, but I still don’t feel I have the command of the language. I’m waiting for a time when I can begin thinking in Spanish. I’m still learning and memorizing the Spanish conjugations when I have time. There are so many of them.
Kerwin and my friend, Doug were able to find a permanent place a week after I got here. They were able to secure a cabina with a kitchen, bath, and big common patio for about $400 a month for the three of us. What a bargain! The guy who owns the place is Italian, a cool guy with a great family. His son Ariel is a crackup. I was able to join Kerwin and Doug in the cabina after my Spanish classes were over.
Unfortunately, I was sick with a cold and a bad cough for about a week. Thanks to the local pharmacy, the drugs worked! Now, I’m back to my usual self, lots of energy for surfing! Speaking of surfing, I have been surfing practically every day. The local breaks here in Tamarindo gets good during high tide.
I figured we’ll be here for another week. We are thinking about traveling in and around Costa Rica or possibly Nicaragua. For now, I’m just taking advantage of the surf that’s available here. We have been cooking food at our place lately to save money and eat healthier. I have a few pictures I want to upload to the internet, but the internet cafes here are really bad and they have old machines and slow connections. Maybe 33kb. The other place has 56kb. Whoa! This computer I’m using right now has a jumpy monitor. Thankfully, it has an english keyboard.
Other than that, we are doing fine and were looking forward to seeing the rest of Costa Rica in the next couple of weeks. I will upload the pictures when I get a chance. Ciao for now.
Mar
3
First Day In Spanish School
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Today was first day at the Wayra Instituto taking Spanish classes. I’ll be in school for a total of three weeks. Today we practiced introducing ourselves to each other. We reviewed ’ser’ and ‘estar’ which translates to ‘to be’ in English. The classes are about 4 hours daily. My class starts at 8:00am to 12:00noon.
I have the rest of the afternoon off to do whatever I want. I surfed twice today after class, early afternoon and just before sunset. I have been using my 6′6” board most of the time here, but the waves in Playa Tamarindo are too small for my taste. I did take out my longboard today to teach other students from school to surf.
Guess what? I have to do my homework tonight. Yikes. It’s not that bad. Only takes about 20 minutes or so. Ciao for now.
Mar
2
Now In Costa Rica
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Hey guys, I finally made it here to Costa Rica. Actually, I have been here for 4 days already. I am now in Playa Tamarindo. I surfed this morning for about an hour, but the waves really suck, so I didn’t stay in the water for long. There are several internet cafes here in town.
This one seems to be better. At least, the machines are newer, although the internet connection is still very, very slow. I have met many, many people the last four days.
I arrived in San Jose Wednesday night at around 8:00pm. I took a taxi to Hotel Mango Verde in Alajuela, only about 5 minutes from the airport. Nice place. It’s cheap, only $15 dollars a night. I stayed there for two nights. I met Roly the owner who invited me to his house the last time I was in here in Costa Rica during the World Cup back in June 2002. I met a Dutch girl staying in the hotel. Mama mia! The most beautiful girl I have seen. I almost didn’t make it here to Tamarindo.
I spent some time checking out at the capital, San Jose last Thursday. I met a couple girls in the city center and I chatted with them with my limited Spanish. I didn’t know how I managed, but I got their email addresses. I left for Tamarindo Friday. I didn’t have a place to stay, but I wasn’t worried. I got off the bus after 7 hour trip, took 4 steps and 10 seconds later, I got a place to stay for just $20 a night. I just moved out and checked in at the school, which is Wayra Instituto de Espanol where I am going to be living for the next three weeks.
My days here are very relaxing. Today, I took a three hour lunch and I still had plenty of time on my hands. Keep checking this site to vicariously live my vacation experience by way of the internet. By the way, the Spanish keyboards suck! It took a three minutes to find the hypen sign and a few more to find the ‘arroba’ or the @ sign! Ciao for now! Hehe..