I wake up to the sound of twittering exotic birds and the dreamy ringtone of my cellphone coming from my bed stand. It is six o’ clock in the morning when I get up to get ready. I fix up my bed and go to the bathroom to take a shower. The showers here are called “frankenstein showers” due to the fact one must turn on the electricity to heat the water via a lever by the shower head. It is important to turn on the lever before turning on the water to get it warm and to avoid possibly getting shocked. When I get into the shower, it takes several minutes and alarming noises from the shower to get the water at just the right temperature.

After my shower, I get dressed and lather myself in sunscreen. Even though it is the rainy season and the sky is a blanket of clouds there is still an extreme amount of UV rays that can burn.  For breakfast I sit down with my host mom for a breakfast of banana bread, fresh cut fruits, and coffee. Usually for breakfast I have larger portions of food that include beans, rice, bread,  eggs, and even sandwiches; food that is not typically served for breakfast in the US but is still very good. This is a less intimidating light breakfast compared to the others I’ve had.

After breakfast I head out to the school which is about a 15 minute walk from where I live. In July there used to be many norte americanos* (North Amercans) like me walking to school that I could walk with. Now, since most of the 5-week people left, I walk with only two friends. We greet every Costa Rican politely with the phrases, “Buenas” or “Buenos dias” and usually receive the same answer back. We walk through the neighborhood and cross a small highway with an island in the middle that we scamper over to when we get the chance, and then all the way across.

The university is quiet compared to last month when there were over 100 international students attending the university. Veritas is a small arts university San Jose, and the population of the school swells during the month of July when most international students arrive. After that the numbers go back down.  Now I am more likely to bump into a Tico (Costa Rican) than I am an international student.

The professors here do not arrive on time typically and we have time to chat when we get there. Last month I had about 10 students in my class. This month there is only me and 2 other girls in my advanced Spanish class because of the small number of enrollment. This makes the class more interactive but also puts a lot of pressure on us too. The class is four hours and is broken up by a half hour recess in the middle.  During this break we can stretch our legs and most of us grab a cup of coffee and a snack since it is only 10am.

Classes go from 8-12pm. At 12pm when class ends, I either stay to work on my homework or go back home to take a nap on particularly exhausting days.

This is how my mornings usually go!

Hasta pronto. Kelsey

*People from the US are never called “Americans”  in Costa Rica and other Latin American countries, because everyone is an “American” who lives in North, Central, and South America.

The menacing “frankenstein” shower. You can see the lever and the wires that attach to the shower head to warm the water.