First days at school

Well, the morning of my first day didn't go all so well. I didn't sleep well (new bed, etc) and I hadn't slept well Saturday night either, just because I kept thinking of other things I had to pack. :-) So by Monday morning I was rather tired. My "mama tica" (tico/tica is the name they use here for native Costa Ricans) took me on the bus the first day to show me how to get to school. She was showing me the way I would need to get back and I just lost it - started crying, of all things! She was so nice! She said she would come back and get me in the afternoon. I guess I was tired and overwhelmed with everything. I trust that I am now over the worst of things to happen to me! :-) The rest of the day was good. My teachers are wonderful. They speak only in Spanish, but it is nice and slow and I am surprised at how much I understand. I haven't had much homework yet, but it's only been two days. I expect I'll have more as the weeks go by. Yesterday I was planning to go to lunch with two friends I have made here, but they went somewhere with their teacher, so I went "sola" to the nearby restaurant. It was a little nervewracking, since I couldn't understand the menu, but I did it and it was great food and I made it back in time for my afternoon class. Yesterday we had a free optional class for salsa dancing. I went and it was fun, but I must say I wasn't very good at it! Oh well. Then I took the bus home, also "sola" and did just fine. (Fortunately the other woman staying at the house had shown me exactly what landmarks to look for, or I probably would have gotten lost!) Last night my "papa tico" showed us some things about the money and our mama tica gave us a $5 colones bill that is no longer in use, but it's beautiful. I've seen parakeets flying around here - they are so beautiful - bright green. The bell just rang for my third day of classes. Adios for now!