First night out in CR

Hola todos,
The night before last was my first night out in Costa Rica. It was interesting. Crystal, Ronnie, Brian and I went to this bar called Cirros. Brian had been wanting to go out practically since we got to the country, so he invited us all out and bought us the local beer, Imperial. I promptly passed mine over to him, and ordered dinner, which was Patacones. Patacones is a fried plantain dish with black bean dip. It was pretty good, and cost three dollars American, which you really can't beat.

Brian introduced us to a couple other students at the bar- Izzy, a girl from Germany who had been making her way up the coast of Latin America for several months, and Saul, who was a native Costa Rican. They invited us back to their place, which was a short walk away. There we met a few more locals and a couple more students. At about 10:30, they decided to go to Cuartel, apparently the best dance club in the San Pedro area. Being the square that I am, I opted out. I wasn't going to get drunk- I can hardly drink, and I didn't want to stay out on my first night after school started. So, I caught a cab back to mi casa, studied a little, and went to bed.

At about 2:00 am, my roomate was getting into bed. She was pretty drunk, and I asked her how the evening went. She said she got drunk and started making out with Brian. Wow. She doesn't even like him. Anyway, so the next morning I got up at 6, and Crystal didn't want to get up. She was really hung over. She finally did, but threw up at the bus stop where my host dad and I were waiting, so he made her go back in the house and sleep for a while. She ended up missing the entire second day.

Speaking of the second day, it was awesome. We had spanish classes (my class is four people- crystal, john, johnny, and I. Our teacher's name is Edward.) The classes are hilarious. Not intentionally, but you just get a lot of stuff that translates differently, or you don't know a phrase. He didn't know what a q-tip was in English, so I had to draw a little one on my paper. After classes, which end at three, we had dance classes (which, I'm not very good. But, I can do about three steps of slightly jacked up Costa Rican Salsa. Yay!) Then John, Jacque and I went to conversation class, where we talked about some different customs and holidays of Costa Rica and other countries. There was a dude from Panama, a chick from Germany, a chick from Costa rica, and us. After class, John and I went to the mall to look around and we got smoothies- which, are delicious here. I rode the bus home for the first time alone, and talked with Crystal a little bit, did my homework, and our hostmom got Chinese for us to eat. Only, she forgot that I was Vegetarian, and I ate a cheese and avocado sandwich. She said the next day she'd make special vegetarian lasagna just for me, to apologize. lol.

Ericka, Crystal and I had our first legit all Spanish convo after dinner- they have been speaking a lot of English, but it's so hard to understand the classes if you aren't speaking Spanish all the time. I told her thanks for using Spanish, because it helps me learn. She said she'd teach us how to play Texas Hold 'Em. lol.

It is the morning now, and I'm getting ready for school. Tonight we're going to go see Toy Story 3 in espanol, and have a nice dinner afterward. I have got to find something else to do besides drink here! In the culture, drinking is a huge thing. My hostdad put liquor in my coffee yesterday morning, because he said it was a cold morning and i needed to be warm on the inside. I was like "Gracias, Gracias" *pour down sink at first available moment.* But yeah, drinking is a huge recreational activity here. Jacque is the only girl in my group who also doesn't drink, so I invited her to get together to find stuff we could do that didn't involve alcohol. John doesn't drink very much, so he might come along too, and we'll find a museum or a park or something. Another big thing here is Futbol (soccer to us). My hostdad has a tattoo of his favorite soccer team, and he was telling me about how he and his wife are on rival teams, and showing me all their team logo cups, shirts, etc.

So, it's interesting so far here. Sorry I don't have any pictures today- I will try to take some soon. I usually leave all the important stuff at home, in case my bag walks away from me. That's common here as well. My hostdad said not to wear anything expensive. He said he's had the sunglasses stolen right off of his face- someone just runs by and takes them. Isn't that crazy? But, hey- every place has its good points and bad. Anyway, I've got to go get a shower. I'll write soon. Sorry for the long entries!!!!!

-Mallory