todos los lunes aqui?

today was pretty fantastic. we took our placement tests and I got intermediate 2 (the higher level of intermediate) which is exactly what I thought I should be in and what I wanted. then, we had our orientation (and free pizza). and then we took a tour of Zapote, where we live, and then explored a little on our own.. got a little lost, found the supermercado, bought some necessary supplies (conditioner, body wash, a 2-liter bottle of water, granola bars) and got helado de cafe…. DELICIOSO. Coffee ice cream is great, but especially when slightly melty and scooped from what looked to be handmade. 

finally, after a ton of walking and exploring, we made our way back to our respective houses to have dinner and plan for the evening…. which was amazing. we went to a bar called “Los Profesionales” which was pretty much all American students, but very cheap and definitely fun. but the main plan was to go to this bar called Cuartel, which is popular on Monday nights. when we first got there there weren’t very many people, but as the night went on it started filling up, and when the live music (a hispanic guy and what looked to be an african guy singing covers of popular American and Costa Rican songs— fantastic!) started around 11, it was packed! we danced our butts off. and had an absolute blast. and actually were successful at getting a taxi, and paying for things, and figuring out where we were. If this is only the second day, we’re going to be old pros by the end. I’m already having so much fun, and I absolutely adore our group from CEA. we’ve all hung out together for most things so far, and it’s been really great. once we’re more comfortable, we may try to go out and do some things on our own, but for now it’s really nice to have a support group. 

it’s getting pretty late over here and tomorrow is our first day of classes, so it’s definitely bedtime for me. hasta luego!