Blogs from San José, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 9

From Panama city we caught a late night bus to David, about 7 hours north. The bus ride was fine, we slept the whole way apart from police stops where we had to show passports. Arrived at 4.30 am where we then caught a 'Red Devil' bus to Boquette which was an hour from David. We had 3 nights in Boquette in a private room to relax in. We stayed at a hostel called Nomba which was small and run by an a very helpful American guy who had worked with a lot of Kiwi's in the past. Free pancakes were cooked for us every morning which was great and see us through for most of the day! We had been told that Boquette with a population of only around 10,000 was voted the forth best ... read more

Well, after 3 1/2 months in Costa Rica, it’s time to go back home! It was a jam packed semester with good times & bad times, happy times & sad times, silly times & study times. It’s hard to put in words my experience here, but overall I would say muy bueno. I learned a lot about myself, life, and of course biology. Saw some pretty awesome things, went to some pretty bitchin’ places, and met some pretty amazing people. I’m going to miss a lot of things about the Tico life and the OTS life, but I am very happy to call California home. Here are some random pics from the whole semester. Thanks for reading everybody - ¡Pura Vida!... read more

I finally figured out how to get to San Jose, Costa Rica that is. A couple of years ago I made plans to fly there for a 10 day holiday. I made all the arrangements by internet; airline reservation, hotel everything. My flight took me through Dallas to San Jose, or so I thought. When I arrived in Dallas to change planes I started to sense something was amiss. I had not yet been asked to present my passport. So I went up to the nearest departure desk and inquired about the final leg of my flight and pulled out my passport. The agent looked at it and at my ticket and said, “Sir, you don’t need a passport to go to Puerto Rico, it is a territory of the United States.” I explained that I ... read more

What's up friends? So I reckon a few of you want to know about the earthquake that apparently made international headlines? It struck early in the morning, around 8:45ish? I was in class, on the second floor. Everything began to shake, violently, and we (eventually) evacuated the building. Not having 'earthquake evacuation training' us gringos must've looked like bewildered idiots. Regardless, everything was fine and we made it out without much damage. The coast, where it struck had some structural damage, but nothing brutal. It's a tribute to the planning of buildings here that there wasn't more damage. The earthquake was at 7.6 - the second largest in recorded history of Costa Rica. However, it occured very deep in the earth, if it was more shallow, the damage would've been much more catastrophic. Over 1200 aftershocks ... read more

Hola, hola amiguitos. ¿Cómo os va la vida? Espero que bien… Por aquí ando yo de aeropuerto en aeropuerto y tiro porque me toca. Más concretamente, me encuentro en el de Frankfurt, de escala para coger un vuelo de diez horacas hasta San José-Costa Rica- Pintan entretenidas mis próximas horas de vida; verdad? Si tuviera la capacidad de teletransportarme, lo haría ahora muy gustoso. Sobre todo, teniendo en cuenta que vengo de empalmada de ayer, de un festival de música negra al que fui y que hace que lleve un cuerpo derrengado!!!!! Menos mal que estos alemanes tienen por aquí unas butacas comodísimas para tumbarme largo, que si no… Pero mi vida ociosa nocturna es otro cantar que no creo que os interese en absoluto. Para lo que estoy aquí es para iros contando un poco ... read more