Patacones

So I was unable to update my blog yesterday because the site was down for maintenance. (I guess that's what I get for choosing to blog instead of preparing for my first oral presentation.) But this is what I wrote yesterday:

We had class this morning at 9, and immediately after class, we had a cooking class with Janet! We learned to make patacones, which Janet described as a "hamburguesa." Obviosuly it was wasn't made from meat though. In short, first we made plátanos. Take a plátano and spread frijoles negros (black beans) on top, then spread guacamole on this and add another plátano on top. I regret that all of you who are reading this were not at this cooking class, because the the Patacones were simply wonderful!! ¡Qué rico!

After cooking class, we had 2 and 1/2 hours before Spanish class, so we did some window shopping. With more time to spare, a few of us went bought batistas ("smoothies") and went to relax in Parque Central. (Central Park) Then the sky started to get darker and darker. You know what comes next: rain! But luckily, we made it back to Intercultura before the sky opened up. We've been lucky so far since it is the rainy season here and today is the first day that it really rained. Not too long after Spanish class started, the sky opened up. Thunder, lightning, the whole "shabang." I really enjoyed the sound of the rain on the tin roof! Luckily, it lightened up to a drizzle by the time class let out.

Class went well again. I feel like I am learning so much! It's not like I've never seen what we are talking about--we've all learned it, but I guess it never stuck. Our professor is reinforcing everything she teaches, and this is really helping. Already we can see the improvements in our work. Each night we have had some type of writing assignment, and she checks it the first time by circling the errors in a green pen. Then as a group, we correct each person's paper one at a time. My first paper was basically all green and each day, I have less and less green circles! Makes me feel good to see improvement so quickly. Tomorrow we have our first exam and will also be giving oral presentations. I will present about la historia of la prensa escrita. (The history of the printing press.) ¡Qué aburrido! And the funny thing is that it is now 10:30 in Costa Rica and I have yet to begin any form of preparation for my presentation. I must remember that I am studying abroad, and I'm not on vacation!

I am surrounded by so much Spanish here and it's great! I've been skyping and my first thought is to talk in Spanish. Several times today and yesterday, while skyping, I would answer questions or start explaining things in Spanish. I'm also keeping a journal to document this trip. It started out in Spanish, and now my entries start in English but by the time I finish, they are in Spanish. Probably by my last week here, my entries will all be in Spanish. (Maybe I'll start writing my blog in Spanish too...)

¡Hasta mañana!