School!

woooo, school & party

I'm officially done with my first week of school in Costa Rica. In order to fully understand my school-life, you have to know that Costa Ricans lead an extremely relaxed lifestyle. This week has been full of new experiences and has definitely not been filled with school work. In my public school, it's normal for the day to end 2 hours early just because a professor isn't there. I haven't had a full day of school yet. There are no substitutes and if your teacher isn't there, you have a free period, or if it's the end of the day, you go home. You have a lot of freedom at the school and it's incredibly easy to skip class. Nobody notices. (Not that I've skipped class)... In the classroom, there isn't much disciplin as students have their phones out on their desk or headphones in; teachers take no action in reprimanding them. Essentially, it's fully your responsibility to make sure you listen and take notes to make the most out of  the education offered to you.

People at school are so nice and welcoming. Having Nicole with me made it easier to understand the schooling system. She speaks no English but it's easy to communicate with her. I've met a lot of great people that I can see myself becoming friends with. It's still quite hard to comprehend what people are saying half the time, but I can tell that I'm improving. Being completely immersed in the language helps a lot.

There are two other students from AFS at my school, but they've been here for 6 months already. They're in the grade ahead of me. When they first arrived, they only knew the minimum of Spanish and now they're fluent. Hopefully my past lessons in the language will give me extra leverage in becoming fluent faster. Both of the girls are really helpful; telling me their first moments in Liberia, and their struggles that I can relate to. 

English is a big thing here. Many people speak it and a lot of people want to learn it. They love to watch American shows and learn about American culture. Popular music here is the same as in the US; J Biebs, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift etc. Other than the English music, salsa and merengue are very popular. People love to dance here and I'm going to be taking some classes soon in Salsa! :) 

Speaking of dancing, there's a HUGE party in Liberia right now. I went on Friday night, and it's amazing how pretty much everyone goes to it. There are loads of dance floors and DJs. As I've said, dancing is a big part of the culture here. Many of the girls at my school perform, and I know that a lot of of the boys love to salsa. 

I believe the party happens every year and it lasts for 2 weeks. There are many activities offered. There's a large stadium where bulls are let loose one at a time and tons of boys (no girls) run around, teasing the bull. It's extremely dangerous but the people here love it. I went to see it and it's scary just watching it. Many times when the bull was let loose, a man would ride it. I let out a little screech every time one of them fell off and nearly got stomped upon by the large beasts. I got a lot of looks from people. Probably because i was being a wuss. Another thing that is a part of the party, would be the horse festival that went around on Friday. It was basically 100s of horses parading around Liberia. Anyone could ride their horse around with the pack. It was crazy. Smelt like poo, but it was fun. 

So far, so good! 

Thanks for reading my lovlies!