San Jose

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Now in San Jose

San Jose is a busy city but it is full of small parks which have nice landscaping and are cool and restful places to sit and enjoy the activity around them. I am surprised at how much I remember about the area from all the walking my group did from the Global and Community Health Field School last year. We spent a lot of time in the Barrio Amon and this time i am looking at Barrio California. These areas appear to be safer in San Jose based on what I read in my guide book.

I ended up staying at Casa Ridgeway which is a really humble but clean and comfortable place. The staff is very friendly and helpful and without a reservation all I could get was a 6 bed dorm room. The good thing is that I get the room to myself and can spread out my stuff on the other beds. They also give us a light breakfast -- all for the whopping price of $14. On Friday night I can get a private room for $19 - the Gandi Room.

I had planned to get up early this morning and go to the mountain town of Turriabla today to visit a Tropical Agriculture Research and Teaching Station (in Spanish they have the acronym CATIE - Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza). Breakfast wasn't until 7:30 am and the town is a 2 hour bus ride away. So, I got a late start and just figured I would wait until Friday to do this. Instead I went on the internet which is right here in the building while I did my laundry here. I had washed all my clothes by hand at the Yoga Farm and they never really dried and smelled kind of moldy. After I got my housekeeping in order I went walking around San Jose. The cow sculptures that were in town last year were gone so I walked to the parks and bought stuff from the outdoor food venders. We have a nice kitchen where we can cook for ourselves so I got some food for my lunch. My new friend, Tiffany went out to the regular grocery store and put together a pasta dinner and salad for ourselves and 4 staff members from the Friends Society and the hostel. Most of the conversation was in Spanish at the dinner table, so I only got bits and pieces of what was being discussed.

The climate is much different here in San Jose than the tropical Pacific Ocean. In the Central Valley we are still likely to get an afternoon or evening rain but the air is much cooler and dryer. The breeze comes in all rooms of the hostel I am staying in (Casa Ridgeway) and I am really enjoying my time here.

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Photos

Friends Peace Center
The Friends Peace Center sits just to the west of the Hostel. On Sunday I plan to attend the Friends Morning Service.

Outside the Dorm Room
Here is Casa Ridgeway outside my dorm room. My room is the window on the right. The street is fairly quiet since it is a cul-de-sac.

Dawn
Here I am outside of the Friends Peace Center. The Friends Society is also known as the Quakers and they run the hostel to raise funds for their causes.

Dining Room
Things here are all about simplicity as is usual in the Quaker Tradition. Here they serve a light and simple breakfast every morning.

Dormitory
Here is the bedroom I stayed in on my first 2 nights. I had it all to myself. Everything is clean and comfortable. I did see some cockroaches but the numbers are 3000% less than at the Yoga Farm.

Kitchen
Fairly well equipped kitchen at the hostel. A really nice lady named Rosita is there every day to clean.