So, for today I am (kinda) breaking my usual habit of posting a day later. (i.e. instead of posting my Wednesday post on Thursday, today I am posting my Wednesday, July 22 post AND my Thursday, July 23 post.)
Yesterday, (Wednesday), we have a very interesting class. Because I am now in Book 2, and Book 2 is mostly review of Book 1 concepts with some nuances added, I asked if we could cover some of the topics of Book 2 that were not in Book 1 at all (namely the subjunctive tenses). So first, I think she tested me to see if I really knew the stuff we were covering now. We went over twice the number of concepts we would usually go over in one day (and thus, I have twice the usual number of pages of homework). But apparently I did sufficiently well for her to agree to teach me the present subjective tense today. It was an “official” lesson because we are technically supposed to go in the order of the book, but since I this was my last week here and it was a topic that we haven’t covered, she first taught the “official” lesson on participles and gerunds and afterwards taught the unofficial lesson on present subjective. (Unfortunatelly, we will not have time to cover the other subjunctive tenses so I will just have to study those back in the States.)
Also today, I learned the Spanish word for “like” or “um.” We were doing an activity where I had to make up a story based on some pictures and my profesora kept noticing that I was using “uh” y “um” while I was thinking. When she pointed it out, I asked if there were similar words in Spanish. In Spanish, you use “este” or “entonces” as your filler words. Now that I know that, I have all I need to know to speak Spanish. ;-)
I have been keeping a to do list of everything that I need to do before I leave...but the list keeps getting bigger! I finish one thing just before remembering two other things I need to/would like to do. :-P And half the time, all I really want to do is sleep. Costa Rica is hot and humid and you get tired more easily here. I calculate that I walk an average of three miles a day with my bag, which isn’t all that much, but here it feels like double. Anyway, I can’t wait to exchange this hot, sticky Costa Rican summer for the hot, sticky summer of Virginia :-)
I am finishing up my essay today, it is on draft four and I still don’t like it much. It’s the kind of thing I want to do and then bury forever under six feet of earth. Maybe I am just being too proud and haughty – sticking my nose up at substandard writing – but I really am not excited about this essay. It is technically fine. Grammatically, structurally, etc. But for me, it is formulaic. It lacks spark or imagination. It lacks passion. I like to care about what I write or what I speak on, and I do care about my trip and experiences here in Costa Rica. I just can’t seem to care about this essay’s message and I am worried it may end up like a cliched Disney movie.
Oh well, I ready to be done. Tomorrow is the last day of classes. Casi hecho.
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