Jan 16, 2010How often can you have a great bar night with a bunch of people, all with varying accents, in a place where very few people speak English. Not often, right?- at least that hasn’t happened with me before.
It is fresh. It is different. The refreshing air nicely complements the magnificent weather. People are speaking Spanish everywhere which makes me realize that I really am in Costa Rica. I’ve just escaped the cold DC weather and the daily hustle to be in Costa Rica and the first day (January 16, 2010) has treated me well.
Costa Rica has exceeded my expectations of being a developing country. At times, it reminds me of back home while at others it makes me wish my home was like this. The streets are well paved, the mercado is well organized, cars are decent and of course the bars are superb. There is a freeway here, although without shoulder but only a few high rises. Streets are fairly clean and there are neighborhood guards to patrol the streets at night, who greet you, every time you walk by with a simple buenas noches.
At the San Juan Airport, I got picked by Ingrid, a very nice woman who spoke no English. I am proud to say that we had a nice conversation on the way to the “home.” Go me! Seems like my attempt and the desire to learn Spanish finally paid off. We drove along the freeway, through downtown San Jose and into San Pedro to get to the “home.” She showed me a few landmarks along the way, including Hospital Mexico, which is apparently the biggest hospital in Costa Rica (hun?). We also drove by the Universidad de Costa Rica, a huge and the most renowned university in Costa Rica. Ingrid mentioned that the university is very competitive. She showed me a couple of parks where people just hang out, play futbol, basketbol, and bicicleta, and basically just hang out with families on Sundays. Downtown San Jose was pretty lively with people just hanging out on the streets. The stores were closed but bars were open. Seems like the Ticos have their priorities figured out.
Ingrid dropped me off at the house owned by Maritza. Maritza- a woman probably in her 40s made me feel at home right away. To make my day more interesting it turns out that Maritza doesn’t speak much English either and neither does her daughter Tatiana. I again managed to somehow understand what she said. The house with a covered patio is really cosy. Maritza gave me a quick tour of the house and the backyard where she and Tati had just cut some bananas. The two dogs and the two parrots who again only speak Spanish make the house livelier. There are two other volunteers- one from New Jersey and the other from close to Baltimore living in the house now. They both go to school just outside of Boston.
Maritza made dinner for us in the evening. It seems like when she is around in the house you don’t have to do anything, not even get fork or water for yourself during dinner. After having dinner alongside strawberry and mango fresco, we went to explore San Pedro. San Pedro has a nice centro with a handful of bars. The bars get even more interesting with new people, especially if they are from all around the world. Apparently, it is okay to drink on the streets as long as its in a can. And guess what, you don’t have to mix your drink while in Costa Rica. Yes, they freaking have rum and cola already mixed in cans. Talk about saving time...
It is fresh. It is different. The refreshing air nicely complements the magnificent weather. People are speaking Spanish everywhere which makes me realize that I really am in Costa Rica. I’ve just escaped the cold DC weather and the daily hustle to be in Costa Rica and the first day (January 16, 2010) has treated me well.
Costa Rica has exceeded my expectations of being a developing country. At times, it reminds me of back home while at others it makes me wish my home was like this. The streets are well paved, the mercado is well organized, cars are decent and of course the bars are superb. There is a freeway here, although without shoulder but only a few high rises. Streets are fairly clean and there are neighborhood guards to patrol the streets at night, who greet you, every time you walk by with a simple buenas noches.
At the San Juan Airport, I got picked by Ingrid, a very nice woman who spoke no English. I am proud to say that we had a nice conversation on the way to the “home.” Go me! Seems like my attempt and the desire to learn Spanish finally paid off. We drove along the freeway, through downtown San Jose and into San Pedro to get to the “home.” She showed me a few landmarks along the way, including Hospital Mexico, which is apparently the biggest hospital in Costa Rica (hun?). We also drove by the Universidad de Costa Rica, a huge and the most renowned university in Costa Rica. Ingrid mentioned that the university is very competitive. She showed me a couple of parks where people just hang out, play futbol, basketbol, and bicicleta, and basically just hang out with families on Sundays. Downtown San Jose was pretty lively with people just hanging out on the streets. The stores were closed but bars were open. Seems like the Ticos have their priorities figured out.
Ingrid dropped me off at the house owned by Maritza. Maritza- a woman probably in her 40s made me feel at home right away. To make my day more interesting it turns out that Maritza doesn’t speak much English either and neither does her daughter Tatiana. I again managed to somehow understand what she said. The house with a covered patio is really cosy. Maritza gave me a quick tour of the house and the backyard where she and Tati had just cut some bananas. The two dogs and the two parrots who again only speak Spanish make the house livelier. There are two other volunteers- one from New Jersey and the other from close to Baltimore living in the house now. They both go to school just outside of Boston.
Maritza made dinner for us in the evening. It seems like when she is around in the house you don’t have to do anything, not even get fork or water for yourself during dinner. After having dinner alongside strawberry and mango fresco, we went to explore San Pedro. San Pedro has a nice centro with a handful of bars. The bars get even more interesting with new people, especially if they are from all around the world. Apparently, it is okay to drink on the streets as long as its in a can. And guess what, you don’t have to mix your drink while in Costa Rica. Yes, they freaking have rum and cola already mixed in cans. Talk about saving time...
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