Just another day in paradise

We are counting down to our return to Austin for intermission on Saturday. We were right on the weight limit for our luggage on the way down. This morning we started laying items that we haven’t used in the six weeks we’ve been here with an eye toward taking them back to Austin on this trip to free up weight for our final return flight.

This morning was our last session with Profesora Maria before intermission (we have another session with Profesora Ana tomorrow). We laugh a lot on the days we have Profesora Maria. Laughter or not, every day at around 9:15 I start checking my watch waiting for our 15 minute break that comes at 9:30. We are always ready for our snack break. Having 15 minutes for our brains to cool down is a life saver.

After our break we asked Profesora Maria if there was something she covets that we could bring her back from the US. We then spent five minutes laughing and discussing in Spanish how to smuggle Bradley Cooper back to Costa Rica in a suitcase.

We finished school on a high note today, mastering the pronouns to be used for different spacial references:

• Este/Esta (This) – are for singular things that are within arms reach
• Estos/Estas (These) are for plural things that are within arms reach
• Ese/Esa (That) – are for singular things that are not within arms reach but still visible
• Esos/Esas (Those) – are for plural things that are not within arms reach but still visible
• Aquel/Aquella (That) – are for singular things that are too far away to see
• Aquellos/Aquellas (Those) – are for plural things that are too far away to see

I can’t think of a parallel in English for “aquel”, but in Spanish if you’re talking about a restaurant across town you use “aquel restaurante” whereas if the restaurant is across the street and you can see it you use “ese restaurante”. Poco a poco.

Jill had a light afternoon today so we went on a long walk after she finished up with her clients. We are getting to the point where we can walk up our hill without stopping. I suspect that when we get back here from Austin we will have to get re-acclimated to the hill. Below is the photo collection from today’s walk:

In an effort to use up all of our perishables before we head back to Austin on Saturday, we are getting creative with meal planning over the next several days. Tonight’s dinner will be chicken and red bean tacos garnished with our coveted sharp cheddar cheese (from PriceSmart) and tomatoes on cheddar jalapeno flour tortillas!

Today’s bonus photo: This amaryllis is a weed growing up underneath an agave.