Satisfyingly discombobulated

Well, after a full week here I’m very settled in, yet still taking in more than I can handle each and every day. It’s a strange experience to grow accustomed to so many things and yet experience so many new ones all at the same time. None of us can imagine the first year of our lives in this world, but I cannot help but wonder if the experience is not so different from cultural immersion.

I second everything Ben said about this past Thursday - it was incredibly fun to see Ben, Kristen, Anna, and her family. I look forward to our next reunion :)

One would think that getting away from Augie for a year would certainly cause an increase in my average class size (it’s tough to compete with a prof-to-student ratio of a university that’s the size of Augustana, no?), but that’s certainly not the case here. After all, there are only 38 or so students in the entire program, and we’re spread amongst four different levels of Spanish. This semester, if you take away my Latin Dance class (which consists of pretty much everyone here), my average class size is around 6. Wow. No hiding from your professors here =). The Classes themselves seem like they won’t be unbearably challenging, but neither will they be unnecessarily easy. Again, this is coming after a week, so I really can’t say as of yet.

I’ve also now attended two church services with my host family. When I first asked what denomination they were, my (host) mother told me it’s the “Iglesia Cristiana,” or simply the “Christian Church.” To me of course this was confusingly generic, but after going a couple times it seems pretty much like an Assembly of God style community, with some slight differences. It’s certainly not Lutheran (not that that would bother a German/Norwegian like me, haha), but the people are very cordial and welcoming (and energetic!). Soon I’ll likely be going to a different, though allegedly similar, church with my sister.

On an entirely different note, the food here is really growing on me. I’m still not much of a breakfast person here, but everything I have had is really good. I’ve been trying many new things, despite my complete lack of Spanish food vocabulary. My culinary knowledge is limited in English, so many of my adventures in eating here teach me on multiple levels (as if I’m not learning enough every day!).

Yesterday our program group went to a couple national parks: INBIO, a sort of state-funded biodiversity center; and La Paz Waterfall gardens. La Paz immediately jumped out as a strong competitor for one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I’ve already written too much for this post, but I’ll post about this weekend soon, and hopefully throw some pictures up for all of you to enjoy. Until then, take care!