Pura Vida!

Hello everyone!
How is everything going? Well, I am fitting in to life here very well. I have a connection to this part of the world, I feel very at home here. We finished our first week of classes and I love all of them. It is a lot of work, lots of reading, but it is all interesting and relevant to where we are. Spanish class every morning is hard! I remember most of my conversational Spanish, but lots of grammar stuff goes way over my head. I think it is really good I have Spanish class though because seeing as I can converse and understand (usually) without the class I don't know how much more Spanish I would learn. My other classes are all about once a week and very interesting. My adviser, Lorna, and I are finalizing my plans for my independent study here as well. I am working in La Carpio with children, my focus being children’s' interpretations through art. I am going to have a different subject and medium for every class which I will teach every Tuesday. I can't wait, I start this week!
Everyone keeps asking me how the people are, so as an answer, in short they are great! I get along with everyone in my group and we have lots of fun together. I am excited to spend the year with everyone! Under the category of "people" my host mom is proving to be amazing. She is so very funny and nice. Her friends come over all the time (It reminds me of home, having my mom know everyone.) and they all talk very quickly. I can usually pick up what they are saying and join in and it is so much fun! She is also a very good cook and likes to make cakes "for fun." That is just fine with me! I can't wait until Wednesday when we are all (yes a bunch of 60+ year olds and I) going to a festival in the central park.
This weekend I went to San Jose (30 min bus ride) to an art festavil on Saturday and again to San Jose for a yoga festaval. The art fesival was neat, we made clay sculptures and ate some "cheese balls" which consist of dry bread that taist slitghtly of cheese and mostly of... nothing actually. Also we saw some inturpritive dance which was very dramatic. The yoga festival today was great. I went to a class in the morning wich was hard but very good. Than I got some AMAZING food, a wrap with indan spiced chicken or something like that. mmmm yes. We got back early afternoon feeling refreshed!
Oh, so, Thursday through Sunday we are going to Talamanca. First field trip!!! We have to get up mad early and cram into a microbus. I am told they are little and cramped, but compared to my experiences with little cramped vehicles, wow this is lugubrious! The windows even open! Anyways, we are going to a Finca and a woman's organic chocolate association. We will be in Cahuita National park, and all the national parks here (Costa Rica has a ton!) are stunning. I can't wait to see them for real, not on a screen. We get to meet with a Calipso music youth group before we get home too. And... I get college credit for this. YES.
All right, I actually have to go attempt Spanish grammar now, but I will update after the field trip!
xoxo

greta