Orientation Day

Today was Orientation Day at Universidad Veritas. I woke up and ate breakfast at my house with my host family. I had scrambled eggs with pepperjack cheese, toast, and applejuice. My host parents and host sister talk to me in mostly Spanish...only English when necessary. After breakfast, my family and my host dog and I walked to Veritas for orientation. I had the opportunity to meet with other international students, especially my classmates in AIFS. Veritas is gorgeous. There are two main buildings with a lot of open air spaces and plants. As you are walking up the stairs, you can look out and see the mountains and low clouds that surround San Jose. The view was breathtaking.Everybody took an oral spanish placement exam to accompany the online exams that we took before arrival. After an orientation session in the university's auditorium, we went for lunch as a group to Pizza Hut. It was much more formal that most Pizza Huts I have been to. It was a little cooler and windier than I expected today, but it was definitely still short-sleeve weather. We got a tour of campus and chose our classes for the next few months after lunch. Later, we were assigned a Spanish class based on the scores of the two exams. I was lucky enough to find a few people to walk home with, but I managed to get lost anyway. Luckily, my host mom was just a cellphone call away. For dinner, my host mom and dad made frijoles, arroz, pollo, y jugo de manzana (beans, rice, chicken, and applejuice).