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Group in Heredia
Our first full group shot(If you want to see the pictures in a larger format, just click on them!)
You may know that the ASU group is studying at CPI-Heredia (Centro Panamericano de Idiomas). Yet we are living in the town of San Joaquin, so you may be a bit curious about the names of places here. Heredia is actually the name of one of the seven provinces of Costa Rica, and it is also the name of a city. San Joaquin is located in the province of Heredia and the city is about a 20-minute bus ride away. Yesterday after classes, we took that bus ride and were introduced to the city of Heredia by our guide, Johnny. (He will be our guide for all major excursions and he is THE BEST!) Yesterday's excursion was part orientation, part tour. Now everyone knows how to get to Heredia on the bus (or by taxi) and more or less where the landmarks of the city can be found.
In Heredia yesterday, we saw the main square and its historic buildings. There was still plenty of confetti left on the ground from several weeks ago when Heredia won the national soccer championship and fans celebrated
Public Bus Ride
Jonathan and Sean enjoy the public bus experience in the square with the church bells ringing until at least 3:00 am. Johnny told us how the priest of the main church is a big soccer fan, so he vowed to ring the bells until 3:00 am. Since the bells are rung the old-fashioned way, he had to have other priests show up as reinforcements at midnight! After the main square and the church, we headed to the city market, an "endangered species" in Costa Rica, according to Johnny, due to the emergence of big supermarkets and stores like WalMart. We sampled seasonal Costa Rican fruit and two types of tortillas made by hand and had free time to explore the market on our own. Some students were thrilled to find Gatorade in bottles and several quick purchases were made! After the market, we returned to San Joaquin by public bus and began a treasure hunt-like search to find everyone's houses. (Yes, we do have treasure maps with all houses marked.) Since most members of the group had only gone from home to the school yesterday morning and we got off the bus in a different part of town (and lots of the houses still look alike to us),
Holding On
Xeng, Emily and Samantha hold on during the bus ride that was not as easy as it might seem. Don't worry, though -- everyone found the school this morning and arrived on time, and this afternoon there is a walking orientation to the town of San Joaquin. After today, everyone will wonder what in the world the confusion of that first day was all about!
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Rebecca Oliver
non-member comment
I'm hungry!
I loved all the pics, but I am jealous! That market looks fabulous and you made me hungry!