Walking Tour of Heredia and the Market

On Monday after classes, we had our first experience on a public bus in Costa Rica. We went as a group to the neighboring town of Heredia, capital city of the province of Heredia, which is only about 15 minutes from San Joaquin. Even though it looked like it might rain any minute, the weather held and we were able to see all the highlights of the town -- el Fortin, the main square, a church built in the 1700's, the home of a former president of Costa Rica, and a bunch of kids leaving school at the end of their school day. The most interesting part was the traditional market. It is still thriving in Heredia, but it is an aspect of Costa Rican culture that is dying out in general, due to the growth in popularity of modern supermarkets. In the traditional market that we visited, they sold everything from fruits and vegetables to meat and seafood to medicinal plants, coffee, spices, tortillas, and much more. Check out the videos to see us trying the unusual fruits that our guide, Johnny, showed us. There is also a brief video of the tortilla stand at the market, although it would be better if you could smell them like we did! We returned on the public bus to San Joaquin at about 5:30. Since it was still the first full day of the program, most of us were not quite sure exactly where our houses were located, but Johnny was kind enough to walk everyone home in time for dinner.

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