Un perro y algunas frutas =)

Some updates:

1) Manchita: My landlord/next door neighbor found an injured stray on the street and brought her home to take her to the vet. He was going to take her to the pound afterwards but we all grew to really love her so we decided to keep her! I agreed to be responsible for her (feeding, walking, cleaning) and to find her somewhere to live when we all leave. We are still waiting for Esteban to take her to the vet-she has an infected anal gland (very easy to fix) that bleeds on the ground (and smells rancid) so we can't let her into the house except to sleep. Also she has an injured leg so she limps. BUT SHE IS SO SWEET. Her name is Manchita (Man-chee-ta) which basically translates to "Spot" in Spanish.

Have you ever seen anything so precious?!?!

2) Gimnasia Nueva: A really nice gym near school/my house has a good deal for USAC students so I joined it since I needed an alternative for the mornings that I don't want to wake up at 6am to run. My friend Danielle and I decided to go the aerobics class last night that was so ridiculously complicated-it is so much easier for Ticos to learn a dance combination since they have been dancing since they were fetuses. I have yet to figure out how to move my hips like that! I will be doing yoga classes too.

3) Frutas: My Spanish Conversations class is awesome-it basically consists of us going in front of the class and presenting whatever the homework was for the week. It is really helpful for my Spanish because the professor expects a lot from us-I can tell I will learn a lot. This week, she had us go to the Central Market and pick out fruits or vegetables that we did not recognize, and then learn about them and present them to the class. We got to try all of the fruits-they were all so good!! I had never heard of most of them-guanabanas, caimitos, manzanas de agua, guayaba, granadillas, y mangas. If you ever see a guanabana at a store-BUY IT. It was so juicy and delicious. It was such a cool class!

-I also signed up to tutor a Tico in English, who will help me with my Spanish, in turn. I'm hoping it will be really helpful as I want to be near-fluent when I leave here.

-A huge group of USAC students are going to celebrate one of the student's 21st birthday this weekend at Puerto Viejo, a beach on the Caribbean. Apparantly it's a really beautiful, really fun place. I'm excited! The weekend after that I plan on going to Manuel Antonio and explore the tropical forests and Pacific areas.