Salsa Orchestra

On Monday, classes resumed as normal, and next Friday is the final. This is a good thing, because four hours of Spanish everyday on top of other classes, homework, trying to communicate, and walking miles everyday can be very draining. Monday night, our resident director Rebecca took us all to see the Costa Rican Salsa Orchestra, Madera Nueva. The orchestra travels around to different places in the city, but on Mondays they come to the Bar el Observatorio in San Pedro (a five minute bus ride from my University). 

The cover fee to get into the bar was paid by our program. We had the opportunity to see a number of professional Salsa dancers and their partners dance to the live orchestra. They were also very willing to dance with us Americans and to teach a lot of the important steps. I also got the chance to try my first Costa Rica style Piña Colada. Overall, it was a very fun but late night. Waking up at six on Tuesday morning was bit of an adventure. 

Today is Wednesday, that means 1000 colones movies at the cinema (about $2). My friend Melissa and I decided to go see Enradados (Tangled). It is quite the adventure to get to the San Pedro mall in the first place, because the bus system here in Costa Rica is interesting even without the language barrier. Crossing the streets here in San José is another story entirely. Luckily, we made it to the mall in very good time, and we had a chance to get popcorn and good seats. They sell Caramel corn in addition to popcorn here, and it is much cheaper than the crazy prices in PA. 



Enradados was completely in Spanish without any subtitles, but it was quite easy to understand because it was aimed for a younger crowd. I was glad that we got to the theatre early, because we got to experience the interactions between mothers and young, restless children waiting for the theatre to open. Although the theatre is very nice with seats that recline and whatnot, the movie stopped about half way through. It took the operators about ten minutes to get it up and running. During that time, a couple of the mothers in the theatre decided to entertain their kids by putting on a slideshow for everyone. It was hilarious.  I also thought the movie was absolutely adorable, and I definitely recommend the English version to everyone!