An Ordinary Day

School has started for me. Monday was my first day of classes. Classes at CSA are a lot different than any kind of school situation I have ever been in. Everything is one on one. When I first got to the school I took a test to evaluate my learning style. This was then matched to an available teacher. I love my teacher! Her name is Oliga, basically Olga. Breakfast with the family is at 7:00. I get to school around 7:45ish, sometimes sooner. That gives me time to talk with my new friends. Also, the school gives us free coffee, tea, and water. I love that part. At 8:00 I head upstairs to mine and Oliga's table. The school is set around a central courtyard. Basically it is just columns and and open walls facing out to the courtyard. It's really beautiful. All of the students and teachers have tables around the courtyard, there are two stories to the school. Each table has a white board. At first I thought that would be really distracting but it actually really helps to have the constant sound of Spanish around you. Class starts out with a half hour/45 minutes of talking with Oliga. We talk about my afternoon the day before, upcoming plans, family, friends, etc. The hardest part of the conversation is that I have to ask her some questions. So far I have no idea what to ask her. It's nice because Oliga is 28. Most of the other teachers are a lot older. I makes the conversation a little bit easier. Also, we have a very similar sense of humor. We are both sort of quirky, sarcastic. Anyhow, after conversation we review verbs until 10:00. At 10:00 we get a half hour break. So far I love that break. It gives all of us time to go to the bathroom, get more tea or coffee and talk. It is so amazing to talk to the other students here. Everyone here is here for a really good reason. There are future missionaries, teachers, activists, and people who know they want to do big things, but aren't quite sure what. People here have so much purpose. It is a reminder for me everyday that God is good and there are good people in the world.

All of the students are put into different levels based on a test they take before they start classes. The levels are A, the beginner, through G, the most advanced. I tested into level C. So far it has been a really good fit for me. It's a challenge but not undoable. I really won't know if it is a fit until the end of this week into next week. Right now Oliga is taking me through the verbs from level B as a good base before I go into more advanced things in level C. It really is a challenge. I'm definately not slacking off down here. There is lots and lots of memorizing, writing, and I'm really not used to doing that anymore. I hope that I'll get better at it as I go. The memorizing is especially hard. I was never all that good at memory work or spanish word lists in high school. Here I'm just going to have to get good at it and fast.

After break we do a mix of conversation, phrases, vocabulary, and verbs. The last hour and a half flies by. I'm done at noon. I usually come home after school and relax for a half hour or so. Before lunch at 2:00 I go to the internet cafe, blog, check e-mail, and all that good stuff. If I need to I go to the market, supermarket, or some other store I do that as well. After lunch I usually hang out with Carlos, Bryan, Kristen, Sarah, or sometimes Pablo. Bryan and I have been doing a lot of pintando lately. We color. The old Peeps coloring book is coming in handy. Pablo and I usually talk about books or our futures, family, things like that. Carlos and I talk about all kinds of things. Sometime in there I start my homework.

So far that is how my week days have been. More pictures should be up soon. I should have some of the house in my next batch.