Progress

So far, this week has been much better than last week. This makes me glad.

First, in Gestión Ambiental, we learned that we don't have class next week. Score! 5-day weekend! (That's sick, isn't it?)
Side note: After the first session of this class, I was complaining about how the professor was talking about the difference between "gestión" and "manejo" because foreigners shouldn't have to deal with ridiculous semantics questions like that. Well, I forgot to post back with the results. On the second week, the professor spent an hour and a half leading up to his answer. He had us volunteer what we thought the difference was, and he talked in circles around the answer for, as I said, about an hour and a half. Finally, he says, "But for me, here's the difference between "gestión" and "manejo"..." (You could literally hear everyone somultaneously pick up their pencils and fall out of the universal stupor.) "It doesn't exist." (Universal sigh as everyone slumps back down in their chairs, puts their pencils down, and reverts to stupor.) He went on to explain that "manejo" is a Spanishified version of the English word "management," and "management" translated properly into Spanish is "gestión." Come on... really now?

In Cartography, I think I have possibly discovered the secret to getting up at 5:30am so I can be at the bus at 6 and in class at 7. It's called going to bed at 10pm. Strange how that works, isn't it? Last night I went to bed at 10, and I had no problems getting up at 5:30 this morning. Bonus points: I showered! Wohoo! It's always a good day when I can work a shower in.

In Regional Geography of Costa Rica today, the professor didn't ask me if I was enrolled in her class. I still think she wonders why I'm showing up because I'm not actually enrolled, but at least she didn't ask again. This is progress. Also, either I'm understanding her better or caring less that I don't understand her, because I'm feeling better about that class. It's still my least favorite class, but progress is progress.

After class, I went to the mall. I bought a McDonald's ice cream cone for 250 colones (50 cents) and it was delicious. I found the markers and the graph paper I needed for my Cartography class. After wandering around for a while, I went to Wendy's. My Wendy's meal more than lived up to the image of it that I had built up in my head. I got a cheeseburger (I need to learn how to say mustard in Spanish), chicken nuggets, fries, a drink, and a mini frosty all for like, $4.50

Then I went to find the transparency sheets (like for overheads) that I needed for Cartography. I found some in a bookstore, but I didn't feel like paying $10 for 100 of them. The second copy shop I asked at had them -- 440 colones (less than $1) is a lot better than $10.

When I went to take the bus home, I only had to wait like, 3 minutes for it. Usually it's at least a 15 or 20 minute wait, but today I got lucky. I was hoping to beat the rain home, but it started raining about 7 minute before the bus got to my stop. And by raining, I mean pouring. When I got off the bus, I stepped into a 4-inch deep river (formerly the street). Usually the 1.5-foot deep 2-feet wide gutters that are on every street are sufficient to contain the rain, but today, that was full, and the rushing water extended 2 feet out into the street, and it was running 4 inches deep. Unfortunately, my little rubber booties were not sufficiently tall enough to cope with this torrent, and my shoes got a bath. Since I only had a 45-second walk home, I didn't really care. My shoes probably needed to be washed anyway. In that 45-second walk home, my backpack and pants got completely soaked. Yes, I did have my umbrella out. (I did mention that it was pouring.) That all kind of stunk, but the rest of the day was good enough to make up for it.

Today's Spanish lesson: salsa agridulce (ah-gree-dool-say): sweet and sour sauce. This is an important addition to any meal from Wendy's, so I feel like you should know how to say it in Spanish, just in case you ever want to eat at Wendy's in a Spanish-speaking country.