Like being a Freshman all over again...

Today was the first official day of classes where the entire university is open to ticos and international students. Last week, only international students and faculty were present. The school is much more crowded, but it was also very interesting to see how the Ticos interact with each other on the first day of their classes. However, it was like being a freshman all over again. I do not exactly know how things work or where things are quite yet, and the Ticos are like the upperclassmen. I am a bit of an intruder. Luckily, most of the Ticos were quite friendly and willing to talk to me in my Intermediate spanish.

This is the front entrance to Universidad Veritas. The university focuses on art, film, graphic design, etc. Therefore, the building itself is also very artsy. It is very "green" also.  Most the areas in the two buildings are open air so there is no need for air conditioning. 

Today I went to lunch with one my friends at a Costa Rican soda (simple, relatively cheap restaurant) that served really good rotisserie style chicken. Afterwards, a few of us gringos (it's actually not an offensive term in Costa Rica, but a description of an American) rode a city bus for the first time to the mall in San Pedro (a neighborhood within San Jose). Across the street from the mall there is a store called Pequeno Mundo where they sell food, toiletries, and clothing for really good prices. It is kind of like Salvation Army and the dollar store combined. Everybody goes there, but no one talks about it.

The mall was typical. The cinema on the third floor shows new releases on Wednesdays for the equivalent of two U.S. dollars. A group of us are planning to go see Tangled this Wednesday between classes. It will be dubbed in Spanish with no subtitles, so it will be quite the adventure!