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22 Mar 2002 |
Imagine: You're at COSI
(Costa Rican Spanish Institute) on the side of a
mountain next to the sea, about a
thousand feet up, with a gorgeous view of the Pacific spread before you.
The constant tropical
heat is bearable because of the persistent breeze that whisks away
your sweat (or when the breeze is not so persistent, an electric fan!).
The tropical trees make their way down the hillside in front of you,
populated by iguanas, birds, and exotic insects, eventually stopping
at the edge of a small bay whose shores curve off to the left and right.
Hawks lazily ride the breeze, flapping their wings about once every five minutes.
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The sun is climbing towards midday, but thankfully you are in the shade
and plan on staying there. It's headed for what is sure to be another
fantastic sunset, like the one at right (we don't have Spanish classes in the
evening, this picture was actually taken during a dance class we had
at COSI at night, but it gives you an idea of the view of the sea we
have).
I ask you: with this peaceful, gorgeous view, how could you concentrate
on wrestling with your tongue to produce a foreign language?!!
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And even worse (or better, maybe?), sometimes class is held on the
beach! At left, Karen is doing her darndest to keep her mind off
the surf and on the finer points of preterite conjugation of irregular
verbs.
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During our class, an iguana stopped by to listen in on our review
of the subjuntive tense (he's in the middle of the photo at left).
At right is a closeup of our "extra student." He was a very attentive
listener, but didn't fare so well when asked to demonstrate what he
learned to the class. He decided he was hungry and went over and snatched
a banana off of Karen's backpack.
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Well, despite all of the distractions, we have learned quite a bit of Spanish
here, and have tons of opportunities to practice it. We speak Spanish almost
exclusively when at home with our host family, and in most of the shops and restaurants
we go to. Often times, we go out with a group of students and find ourselves
speaking Spanish because it is the best common language among the Swiss, Dutch,
German, Italian and American students here (though we often resort to English too,
and many of the students will speak their own languages too). Usually, Karen and
I speak English only when it is just the two of us, which is a much needed break
for our sore brains.
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Also, the instructors here are a lot of fun, both in and out of class. We often see the younger
ones at the beach, or out on the town at night. All of the teachers
lighten up class a little with a sense of humor. At left, Pedro "El
Columbiano" is probably cracking yet another joke to make Karen smile
wide for the picture.
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And there's nothing like retiring to the beach after another day
of mental linguistic juggling... with only four hours of class a
day (which is plenty!) we have plenty of time to just CHILL and
enjoy the tropics. What a rough life we lead!
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Well, last Friday was our last day of classes, and tonight was our last night in Quepos.
We spent the afternoon with our host family, and tonight we said our goodbyes to
the friends we're made here, with promises to return again or visit each
other in our respective countries (we've met a lot of Europeans on this trip!).
Even if that doesn't happen, we'll still
have plenty of fond memories of the people we've met here. And at the very least,
I'm sure I will return to the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area--I really love it here.
So tomorrow we board the bus for another adventure... We're headed down to
a remote retreat called Cascada Verde, further down the west coast. The only contact
we've had with them is an email saying "stop by anytime" (they don't have a
phone) and we have a hand-drawn map of how to find them (we hope) that I
copied from their website. Since it's so remote, this may be the last update for awhile, maybe
I'll have to resort to postcards!
Paz y Amor,
Scott.
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