Spanish lessons, take 2

We've now been in Costa Rica six weeks (as of yesterday) and still really love it.

A lovely clear view of the mountains one day during our walk home from class

For the past two weeks Graham and I have spent four hours each day in intense Spanish classes at Intercultura. It's made our schedule pretty crazy logistically - we take a taxi to Claire's school at 7:20 a.m., then take either a taxi or a bus to Intercultura, which is in downtown Heredia (about 15 minutes by taxi or 30-50 minutes by bus). Then we spend 4 hours in class and catch the bus home. (No, we still don't have a car, but we're close.) By the end of the day we're pretty pooped.

The reception area during our first week (the second week it was constantly filled with a SEA of students)

The small kitchen where we get coffee and tea

We started at the beginner 3 level (Graham tested higher but wanted to be in class with me) with Andrea, then last week moved up to beginner 4 with Jesús. Each week we're with a different professor and, in theory, have different classmates. So far it's just been the two of us. It's nice to have the personal attention, but we're also hoping to spend some time with other students. At this time of year, almost all the other students are college students from the U.S., Australia, or Canada. They stay from one week to four (on average, sometimes more). We feel like we're learning a lot and are happy with our progress.

Graham in our first classroom

Each Friday they have a graduation ceremony for those students leaving the school - they get a certificate, say a few words, and then everyone gets fresh fruit. There's usually watermelon, pineapple, banana, and then other regional fruit. Through Intercultura we've gotten to try several interesting local fruits:

 Nance - a small, yellow fruit that looks like a cherry but tastes like something already fermented (not our favorite)

Mamóncillo - a round, lime-looking fruit that has a lychee-like gooey fruit inside and a large pit - sweet and tasty

 Manzana de Agua ("water apple") - looks like a wrinkly purple pear, tastes like an unripe pear (but softer) and is very juicy

Mamón Chino ("Mamón of China") - spiky outer husk that you peel away, then the inside is like a mamón, though less gooey - we thought it tasted like a pear (pear seems to be the chicken of fruit)

Claire is quite the singer these days. She loves to sing around the house and has been learning a lot at school. Rockin' Robin is a recent favorite (I taught her that one in Kansas City - we used to walk around and see robins everywhere)- here's a video of her singing that. She sang two Spanish songs for us the other day that she learned at school, but we can't get her to sing them again so no video. Hopefully soon. She will sing a French song for us, though - "Les Trois Petits Cochons" (the three little pigs). One teacher at her school knows French so they learn that a little, too. Here's Claire's version. We love it when she sings to us...

Her favorite TV show here is "Hi-5." It's actually an Australian kids' show dubbed in Spanish (pretty well, actually) and it's hugely popular in Latin America. Claire asked the other day if we would please take her to Australia to see Hi-5 live. Ummm...maybe someday, kiddo. Here's one of her favorite songs from the show in Spanish, and then the original in English. The translated version is interesting because, as with any translation, it isn't always exact. It's fun for Graham and me to figure out what they're actually saying in Spanish, and good practice.

A little Hi-5 over dinner

The national bird of Costa Rica is the "yigüirro" (yee-gwee-roh), or the clay-colored thrush. We have a ton of them in our garden, and they're cute but very loud. 

The yigüirro - basically a brown robin

I got a little video of them singing - noisy little buggers:

Next week we have two morning conflicts with class at Intercultura so will return to LisaTec for a week of private lessons again. Luckily, we're in no rush. We will spend 5 more weeks at Intercultura, ultimately; it's just a matter of when, exactly.

We had our friends Ray and Alyssa from Seattle (who we met at Arenal) over for some comida tipica (typical Costa Rican food) before they returned to the States - it was fun seeing them again and we enjoyed hosting in the new place. Last night we went out for dinner with some other new friends, Mandy and Andres. Mandy is from the Midwest and works at Intercultura, and Andres is her Costa Rican fiancé. We went to El Dorado in Belén, which we had been told on several occasions has the "best ceviche in all of Costa Rica." The seafood was incredible, and we really enjoyed spending time with Mandy and Andres. If you come visit and like seafood, we should definitely go to El Dorado.

And now, your Spanish summary (a little better each time, I hope):

• Nosotros estuvimos en Costa Rica por seis semanas y ¡a nosotros nos le encanta!
• Por dos semanas Graham y yo estudiamos español en Intercultura por cuatro horas cada día. Nosotros estamos aprendiendo rápido. A nosotros nos les gustan nuestra profesores y otros estudiantes.
• Nosotros probamos las frutas diferentes de Costa Rica: nance, mamoncillo, manzana de agua, y mamón chino. Todos somos interesante. 
• En este momento, a Claire le encanta cantar, y ¡a nosotros nos le fascina! Ella cantó una canción francés la pasada semana. ¡Que linda!
• El programe favorito de Claire es “Hi-5.” A ella le gustaría viajar a Australia para ver ellos. “¡No hoy, niña dulce!”
• Los yigüirros cantan en nuestro jardín – ¡ellos son ruidoso!
• La próxima semana nosotros vamos a regresar a LisaTec para lecciones privadas, entonces vamos a regresar a Intercultura. 
• Yo cociné para Ray y Alyssa antes ellos regresaron a E.E.U.U. Anoche, nosotros comimos los mejor mariscos con Mandy y Andres en El Dorado - ¡que rico! Sí ustedes visitarán, nosotros iríamos a El Dorado.