Luna de Miel (Translation: Moon of Honey)

Yes, it is true that honeymoon in Spanish, when translated into English, means the moon of honey. Somehow it slipped during our first day of class that this is actually the beginning of an extended honeymoon, and we were hearing about Spanish moons and honey all through the day.

The rains from last night abated this morning and it turns out that Turrialba is going to be an amazing place to spend the next two weeks, so amazing that we already feel like we will miss it when it is time to leave for the beach. Our school is on the site of a botanical research center, with paths through their gardens, which we can wander during our lunch break. The town was bustling this morning with markets everywhere. But the best part is that there is literally no one who speaks English, so no one can bail us out of our broken Spanish-Italian. And Rachele is already speaking with the same confidence it took me years in school to find.

Rache and I are in a class with one other student and our teacher is fantastic. Rache is picking up so much already, and one of the ladies who gave us a tour of the city today was studying Italian so they chatted away while I tried to keep up with my dictionary. The town has many hidden gems that we will have a blast exploring. Already we are taking a trip to a serpenteria (a zoo of only snakes, frogs and other reptiles) tomorrow, will be doing cooking lessons on Wednesday and then dancing (salsa and merengue) the next night. Our medical Spanish lessons will be with one of the local doctors, who gave us a massive handout (about 150 pages) to read over the next week. There is a fake doctors office in the classroom that we will practice on for two hours and then go to an orphanage, the hospital, a local clinic and a house for mentally disabled patients to shadow doctors and see real patients in Spanish. It should be great.

So much to tell, but Ill leave some for Rachel to tell tomorrow. The flower in the picture is called a bird of paradise and was in one of the gardens near our class. Rache says its one of her sisters favorites. The turtle was right outside as well. The last picture is from our classroom. It can get hard to hear because the birds are so loud outside.

Actually, Rachele has more to tell for now....

well... day two. totally a great day from start to finish. after a fairly eventful night at a rather dodgy hostel...we awoke to a most splendid and hot day of sunshine, jungle, mountains, and bubbling volcanos...the lifestyle is great. walk, sweat, laugh, drink loads of fresh coffe, and learn a beautiful language all literally in a jungle of the most amazing flowers, birds, and mountains....didn{t realize learning could be this fun ...and that there could be such great background noises with the birds, the bugs, and the whistling trees!... we have met many kind souls already, many like minded people with international interests and are quickly adapting to the local way of life...anyway, if anyone is interested in learning spanish, this is defintely a program to join...incredibly accomodating, friendly, and not a word of english is spoken, hence you fumble around like an idiot trying to ask for simple things, but ultimately end up learning something new....well, i{m off for another night to learn more espanol...and, traveling with someone for the first time is incredible! such a great time to be with kenton and enjoy all our surroundings together.....i{m a lucky woman!!!