Blogs from San José, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 20

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I feel I owe you all an explanation. I know it's been quite a while since my last entry, perhaps you are wondering why you haven´t heard from me. The reason I have not been updating my blog is because I was enrolled in: INTERMADIO DOS. I´ve decided to dedicate the following entry to my academic pursuits here in Costa Rica so that you will understand that I was not intentionally neglecting my faithful blog readers :) La Universidad de Veritas really is an impressive institution. My classes here have been much more challenging than I expected. Our days are broken into two parts, in the mornings from 8-12 the school offers intensive Spanish classes and in the afternoon we have our electives. On our first day we each took a placement test to detemine our ... read more


Pretty entertaining wake up this morning. We were headed for San Jose on the 6:30am bus so I had set my alarm for 5:45am to get up and run up the road to the bus. I woke up to the alarm but the other guys didn't. As I was groggily finding my bearings, Matt's alarm went off. Now there are only four of us in the room in each corner. Justin and Morris  have no alarm, mine is in my hands, And that leaves Matt. So the alarm is going off in Matt's corner for awhile when I finally tell him to turn it off. His response was "it's not mine" ... Even after I explain mine is in my hands he is still convinced he shut his off last night. Finally he sits up and ... read more


Another day in San Jose! We went over to San Pedro for orientation today, lasted until about 3 pm. We had lunch outside picnic style and then headed back to the hotel after getting Visa stuff worked out. Sometimes I forget that I'm not just in South LA until I see a street sign in Spanish or a tropical tree in a park. After returning to the hotel we sat in the hot tub for an hour, worked on my research proposal, and chilled. Dinner at 6...rice, beans, and veggies :) . I'm really having a great time here, the people are wonderful! Looking forward to Las Cruces tomorrow, just a 7 hour bus ride away!... read more


Hola Costa Rica! I have arrived in Costa Rica after a 5 hour red-eye to arrive at 6:30 am. Not gonna lie, I'm a little out of it. Today has been lovely though, met a few people on my plane and a few others a little later. We walked to the park, sat by the pool for two hours, went to eat at Soda Tapia, and then back to the park. Costa Rica really is beautiful! We are all biology nerds too, which makes it that much more exciting. Looking forward to orientation tomorrow, should be intense if nothing else. Peace.... read more
Parque otro vez
Parque una vez mas
Hanging out


Cd. de Panamá, Panamá, a 17 de septiembre del 2009. Muchos saludotes: Ahi les mando algunas fotos de San José y Alajuela, Costa Rica. No previa dirigirme tan temprano a Costa Rica, sino pasar unos dias en Granada, Nicaragua, la meca del turismo colonial de Nicaragua (su Oaxaca o Antigua), pero en el hostel de esa ciudad, una vez registrada mi entrada y tras salir para comer y tomar fotos, a mi regreso la recepcionista me salio con que tendria que asegurar mi pasaporte porque yo era latino, que dijo el dueño que eran ordenes de la Policia Nacional que a todos los latinos se les aseguraran los pasaportes como medida de seguridad para evitar robos, y como yo era latino pues a entregar dicho documento, y "que comprendiera que era para seguridad de los huespedes" ... read more
Plaza de San José.
Teatro Nacional.
Photo 5


Well, we made it! Showed the land-lady how to take care of Suki (my kitten) before we left, then it was off in a taxi to the airport. Check-in was fine, although flight was full, as many flights were cancelled early in the day due to bad thunderstorms in Tegus this morning. After a bit of a scare, we were through and boarding. They forgot to give Walter his immigration paper back at check-in and they wouldn't let us through to board so we had to go back and get the green paper from the check-in desk. Flight was also delayed and we feared missing our connection in El Salvador, but they held that flight, as many people were delayed. My backpack was the only bag we checked, as it contained liquids, but once in San ... read more
Walt and I on the Plane
Tranquilo Backpackers


After a day of resting, we ventured into San Jose for the day. We weren't sure what to expect as we had read so many negative things. We tried not to look like tourists - carrying very little, and being extremely cautious. The city moves at a very brusque pace - the traffic is CRAZY, and we were glad we splurged on a cab rather than the bus. We started at the Plaza de Cultura and took a walk to a nearby park. After looping through the park we strolled back towards the Plaza - heading for the National Theater and the Museum of Gold. At the museum we saw a few exhibits - one on Costa Rican currency, abstract art and of course - the gold artifacts on display. The museum was informative, and we ... read more
Statue at Teatro Nacional
Moraza Park
Museo De Oro Precolombino


My wife and I were having lunch in the Central Mercado in downtown San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The market was at one time the sprawling outdoor heart of the city crammed with vendedoras and goods. Now the entire city block is covered with a roof, but is still the carazon of the city. Alisa ordered Olla de Carne (Pot of Meat), and was surprised at the heaping plate of vegetables and beef placed in front of her for a mere 2.200 colones, or 4 American dollars. I was more than happy with my seafood stew—giant crab claws sticking out of it—and was secretly pleased, looking at Alisa’s plate, that I would probably get half of that too. And I did. The subject of our conversation over lunch had to do with the Clinica ... read more


Big breakfast start to the day today, looking out on a balcony over San Jose - its probably not one of the most picturesque sights we´ve seen so far!! Headed to the bus station to catch the 12.30 bus to Quepos. 3 hours of a hot and steamy bus ride later, we were nearing our destination. As we pulled up to a bus station and the word Quepos seemed to be on a few signs outside, we assumed we were in the right place!! Off we got, went to get our luggage and we were told to get back on by the bus man. ooooops, a scottish couple were sniggering at us at the back of the bus, but they had no idea whether we´d arrived or not either!! Eventually we arrived in Quepos and found ... read more


On the first day of Spanish class in Zapote, Costa Rica, Alisa and I were supposed to arrive a half hour early. So even though we are on vacation, we got up at 6:30 to adequately prepare for our first day. Alisa spent an hour and a half putting on makeup. I actually showered. The mornings in Costa Rica are amazing. At 7 am it is an intensely sunny 75 degrees. Every morning. Our walk is so short we can hardly begin a conversation before entering COSI, which stands for Costa Rican Spanish Institute. My confusion in trying to figure out how that acronym works turned out to be some pretty heavy foreshadowing of things to come. Alisa and I were buzzed through the gate by unknown eyes observing us from who knows where, in a ... read more




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