Week 4: Mid-term

I was preparing for the presentation and exams all week. On Tuesday, I presented my presentation on the common cancers in Costa Rica. It was very interesting to read up about these issues in a country my professor currently resides in. If there was anything, she would chime in during the presentation and teach us along the way. I like that she did not expect perfection and would help fix our mistakes. As part of each of our presentations, there was a little discussion or game at the end about our respective topics. It was very enjoyable as we did everything in Spanish and it tested our listening comprehension.

After the presentation, I threw myself into preparing for the mid-term. It was composed of 15 minutes of doctor-patient interviews with a partner. We took turns being doctors and patients. That was the fun part. After all of the oral exams were administered, the written exam started. Of course, the written exam was on the computer online. It was not proctored by the professor as she trusted that we would not cheat. The written portion took me 2 hours to finish. I was completely drained by the time the exam ended. It was partly brain usage and partly the nerves of my laptop acting up. I am glad my laptop decided not to act up at such an important time. It happened once in the previous semester when I was doing my final exam for French. Luckily, it was a shorter exam than this one so that I can do it all over again. I could not imagine having to go through that twice.

My cousin came over and I got to spend and day and a night together with her. She came over for a week. I wish I had been able to spend more time with her, but I am glad she was able to enjoy the cuisine diversity Houston has to offer. I think she ate so much that she did not want to do anything else XD.

This week, I finally got around to chasing down a taco truck. The truck was parked outside a Hispanic church. The name of the establishment is Taqueria El Borrego. The tacos were amazing. I ordered tacos de maíz con (with) barbacoa, pollo, and chicharron. The total was $6 and it filled me up for lunch. Personally speaking, I think my friend makes a better barbacoa taco, but that could have been the fact that we got to go all-in on the stuffing and garnish. When I was ordering in Spanish, the lady was surprised at first and then started smiling or smirking. I do not think she meant anything bad, but I noticed my braces lisp was full-on and anyone can tell I am trying to learn. I am just glad I was able to use my front teeth to bite again. It was not a clean bite, but it did the job. My cousin, unfortunately, did not want a taco because of her bad experiences with tacos in Illinois. I will work on converting her the next time she comes or I do not think we can be cousins anymore…