Blogs from San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 79

Talk about sensory overload. I don’t remember the last time I’ve learned so much in a 24 hour period. It’s been amazing. Today, Mike and I had our meeting with our residency lawyers, Jorge and Romulo, and began our residency process. Even though I’ve heard quite a few horror stories, we have had an extremely smooth experience. Granted, we did a lot of running around today and without Mike’s fluency in Spanish, the experience would have been more difficult but regardless, the inefficiencies I’ve heard about over and over again, did not seem to be an issue today. Perhaps it’s more our attitude toward the concept of “process” that is making this transition easier. Things happen, when they happen. They will not happen quickly here ~ bring a book and be patient. The organization we’re going ... read more

Hi, we think we've got the hang of this site now so hopefully our blog will improve!!! We stayed at Mi Casa Hostel in San Jose, bar one night in La Fortuna and it turned out to be a really nice place, just what we needed after stinky Cuba! San Jose, for any of you prosepective travellers, is very much like Birmingham, England...but smaller. We flew with TACA again and we fully recommend this airline, we think it's better than BA! Tom made two friends on the plane. A really nice, eccentric, old Cuban guy who had been in Mexico, Bolivia and Costa Rica for reasons he never divulged, and Ernesto, a trainee doctor from El Salvador who Tom introduced to Johnny Walker Red Label! San Jose is definitely just a stop off point, not ... read more

At the end of our last installment, Martina and I were waiting to go on a night walk, hoping to see a sloth. Well, it was a total washout. The park, recommended by a hostel employee, was near roads and homes and there was nary a mamal in sight. Sure we saw a couple of tarantulas, some glow worms (hot the US kind, but some big beetles with phosphorescent spots on their backs) and the largest ant hill you´could possibly imagine, but no kinkajous, no monkeys and, most annoyingly, no sloths. Just one of those nights. In the morning we took a 7 hour van ride to Samara, a very small beach town with a few hotels, some restaurants and a lovely stretch of sand. We checked into a hotel called casa del mar, again recommended ... read more

Photos http://www.clubphoto.com/reward.php?id=4485272&mid=members1_bex1042515&pwd= Next stop: San Jose. I arrived late into town, having picked up what I thought was the bus but turned out to be one just heading north so I was the only person on there with 2 male drivers. Was a little worried but needn't have been as they deposited me in central San Jose next to a taxi rank and made sure I got myself and all my bags safely into a taxi. Next challenge - to find the hostel Chelsea had recommended. We drove around a little bit and after asking one or two people we discovered it on the corner of Parque España in central San Jose. Met Federico, the owner, who was an absolute star. I had a ball with him and his family - the hostel is their family ... read more

This week has been pretty interesting so far. I have an eye infection from my contacts so I didnt go to class on Monday. It is starting to get better though. Yesterday I went and saw X-men 3, and I got lost on the way back. Actually, the taxi driver got lost, and I got so frustrated with him that I paid him, got out of the car in the middle of God knows where and had to take 4 buses to get back home. It was an interesting experience. Christie and I went bungee jumping today and it was INCREDIBLE! It was us, 3 hot British guys, another hot swedish guy and 2 guys from Vegas. It was about 30 minutes outside of San Jose. The jump was about 240 feet and they say it ... read more