Soap and the 3 T´s

Before leaving the house make sure you have the following:
Soap-because none of the bathrooms have it. It doesn´t make it into the budget here, so I just carry a little bottle with me everywhere...which leads me to my first T...
Toilet paper-also not important enough to make it into the University budget. Always put a wad in your pocket before heading out the door.
Toothbrush-Oral hygiene is very important here. As my friend told me, I have a toothbrush in my car, in the shower and in my backpack. Amazing. I always see people brushing their teeth in the bathroom.
Textmessaging-You always try to avoid talking to someone in person here. First send a textmessage. It is super cheap, and you can do it wherever you are, waiting for the bus, in class when you are bored, in the car, on the plane, when you are sad, when you are mad...

Un día....

Wake-up around 6 am and after a shower have some fresh fruit. Right now cantelope is in season. My Portuguese class starts at 8 am but I usually wait for the bus 30 minutes to an hour on Mondays because the traffic is so bad. It costs less than 50 cents to ride the bus and I get there in 15 minutes. I greet my classmates when I enter the room, even if I get there late and the teacher is talking, because it is respectful here. Class is always very interactive and we do work in parejas (partners) all the time. Class finishes at 10:30 so sometimes I will go have a coffee with some friends at the soda (cafeteria) or I will hit the computer lab. Most businesses and banks close for luch 12-1:00 everyday. I heat up my food at the soda after standing in the microwave line for 10 minutes and enjoy delicious homemade beans and rice and squash and fresh cheese. I study in the library with my friend Andres who is majoring in Chemistry. Most costa ricans have a merienda at around 3pm of coffee and some snack like tortillas with cheese. The campus is beautiful so I usually study outside under the shade of a tree. On Thursday´s I go to the Roteract meeting at 8pm and they usually hang out at a bar afterwards to sing Kareoke or catch a bite to eat. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I run with Eleazer, who is a neighbor in his 60´s . He is trying to show me all of Costa Rica on foot. Last Tuesday we took a bus to Santa Elena and ran home along a beautiful trail that was adorned with mango and fig trees, and stray dogs lying in the shade. I used to watch the telenovela Betty la Fea with Grace everynight before going to bed, but the series finished so I usually try and have a mini English lesson with Grace before going to bed. Most of my classes are on Saturdays: Semantics of Text; Strategy of Translation; Terminology and Lexicography and Spanish Syntax and Grammar.