Well I did it: I survived a semester at the University of Puerto Rico Cayey! And I passed all of my classes... Yes that means I actually passed my Grammar class! That is probably the thing that I am most proud about. I got a B on our last exam. But I could tell that my professor really enjoyed having me in class. She told me that if I am ever in San Juan to get a hold of her so we can do something. She also said that she would gladly be a reference for me if I need one. That is so sweet of her! I am so thankful for everyone that has helped me this semester. I am also so thankful for everyone that wants to help me--and is helping me this summer. Everyone here is so generous! I don't think I could have survived this semester without all of the people that I have met along the way. And my professors were also extremely helpful to me and I appreciate them. These are pictures of my Grammar professor and my Latin American History professor. I didn't get pictures with my Lit professor or my other history professor.
But it's really weird to think that this is the end. It's definitely not the end to my adventure here, but in a way, the beginning. Now that I have no classes or homework to worry about, I feel like I will be able to do so much more. I've been told by so many people that I've done so much here, but it doesn't feel like it to me. I think a big part |
of that is because I have such an adventurous spirit and want to explore everything, so it really doesn't feel like I have done all that much. But I really am excited to see what is next for me. In a week I will be in Mayaguez with one of my friends that had studied at GB last semester. I didn't get to see her at all since I've been here so I am so excited to be staying with her for that week! I've also had so many people tell me that they want to take me to different things this summer. Tuesday we'll be going to Culebra, which I am so excited for! Here are a few pictures in case anyone was interested. It's one of the world's top 10 most beautiful beaches.
But we had such an errand filled day. It was very productive. I had to recycle a bunch of papers and magazines, and I took out the trash just a little bit ago. We also had some post cards to drop off at the post office as well as some boxes to send home. I'm kind of worried about mine because the guy seemed to be having some trouble with my address for back home. I really hope my mom is able to get it. After that we went to go take care of everything we needed to do to send our grades back to the states. That was an adventure. We had gone there first, but we didn't understand what the lady was trying to tell us so we had to ask Arturo. When we went to his office, he was of course not there because that's just our luck. So instead we went to take care of our post cards and packages at the post office and then got something to eat at El Mirador. It turned out to be this little treat. We had
wanted to try the acai bowls for awhile now. There are signs for them all over so we figured that we had to try one. It was absolutely amazing! I'm kind of glad I hadn't tried it until now though because they're pretty expensive and I would have gone broke if I ate them all the time. I'm pretty sure that I'm still going to be broke after living here. I'm trying to find someone to go with me to the Dominican Republic this summer, which might put me back a little bit. But it would be a really good experience so it will be worth it. So far this entire experience has been worth it. I know that I haven't yet done as much as I wanted to with my Spanish, but it has improved so much! I know |
that I complain about how my Spanish isn't where I want it to be, and that I still second-guess my abilities all the time, but my Spanish is actually so much better. If I can better my Spanish this much with what little Spanish I have done this semester, I can only imagine how good it will be after this summer. The plan is to do as much Spanish as possible. I just have to get over that last bit of fear that I have. I still feel a little uncomfortable when speaking, but I'm going to push through it; that is the only way I can get better.
But we had a pretty jam packed day yesterday as well. First we went to the beach and I finally got to hoop on the beach for the first time since I started my hoop journey! It was pretty hard to do though. I mean, I had expected there to be a lot of wind, but it was worse than I had anticipated. It didn't help that I brought my lighter hoop. But everyone on the beach seemed to enjoy it, and I got a lot of cool pictures from it. Deidre and Adyam even tried for a little bit. I got some really cool pictures of them as well. So here are those pictures. We went to Parque Oceana in San Juan.
But we had a pretty jam packed day yesterday as well. First we went to the beach and I finally got to hoop on the beach for the first time since I started my hoop journey! It was pretty hard to do though. I mean, I had expected there to be a lot of wind, but it was worse than I had anticipated. It didn't help that I brought my lighter hoop. But everyone on the beach seemed to enjoy it, and I got a lot of cool pictures from it. Deidre and Adyam even tried for a little bit. I got some really cool pictures of them as well. So here are those pictures. We went to Parque Oceana in San Juan.
After the beach we headed to the "Puerto Rican Door." I don't know if that's what it's actually called, but that's what I'm going to be calling it. We then also looked in some souvenir shops and I got a bunch of post cards for people. I spent way too long writing all them yesterday; but at least people will have a nice little souvenir from Puerto Rico. I also got a flag that I will be able to hang up in my room or apartment once I'm back. My walls are going to be filled with Puerto Rico. I hope my roommates don't mind! Although if they're in my room they won't really have a say. But here are our pictures from that adventure.
And now that school is over I would like to update this blog regularly (as well as my tarot journal because that hasn't happened in awhile...). And who knows: maybe sometimes my blogs will be in Spanish! Sorry to everyone I know who doesn't know any Spanish... Google translate can be a wonderful tool! Speaking of which, my computer is trying to translate both English and Spanish sites now instead of just the Spanish sites. I think I've been using too much Spanish for it that it doesn't know what language I actually speak fluently anymore. I think that is a step in the right direction! But I think it's time to binge watch some Breaking Bad before I head to bed. My goal is to finish it before Deidre leaves. I think once she's gone, I'm not going to get into another show so that I can focus on Spanish. I'm on season 4 out of 5, and I have 5 days before she leaves so we'll see.
XOXO Ericka
XOXO Ericka