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First Group Photo
The ASU group stops for a group photo in the main plaza in Heredia. The church in the background was built during the 18th century.On Monday afternoon after classes, we met our guide Johnny and took a public bus to the city of Heredia, about 15 minutes away (but it took a bit longer because of some much-needed road construction). When we got off the bus, Johnny pointed out some landmarks, including one of the few churces in Costa Rica that does NOT face toward the west, so that we would be able to find the location for return buses if we decide later to come on our own to Heredia. He told us that we would be seeing one of the remaining old-fashioned markets, where you can find just about anything and all of the food products are totally fresh. We walked a few blocks and entered the market, which is not exactly underground, but it is covered and just a little bit below sidewalk level. Inside, the variety of the products sold was amazing! We walked by rows and rows of fresh vegetables and fruits, grains sold in bulk, medicinal plants, fresh meat, cheese and fish and just about anything else that you can imagine. We stopped at one of the fruit stands and Johnny explained a bit about the local and seasonal
Public Transportation
Nicole, Addie, Randy and Lisa seem to be enjoying their ride on a public bus. fruits and helped us to sample some of them. The videos in this entry and some of the pictures show that whole process. Then he showed us some a few "sodas,' or small snackbars and explained a little bit about a few of the dishes. Since we had not eaten after class, we were all starved, and we were on our own for lunch at one of these sodas. Even though we are not all totally fluent just yet, everyone was successful in ordering and paying for some very typical Costa Rican food. Some had empanadas and others had "casado," which is a typical plate of beans, rice, meat or chicken or fish, some salad and vegetables, and a small serving of fried plantains. One of the pictures shows a casado, but Morgan was eating it so fast that quite a bit of it was gone by the time the photo was taken! Evidently, it was quite good.
After lunch, we walked to the main square of Heredia and saw "el Fortin," known as a historical symbol of the city and province of Heredia. Then we entered a church that was built in the 18th century and briefly visited
Not a Bad Ride
Ginger and Justin don't seem to mind the bus ride either. its gardens as well. We paused for a group picture in the main square before returning to the bus stop and heading back to San Joaquin. Once we were back in our "home" town of San Joaquin, we got off the bus at a different place and Johnny showed us some of the stores and restaurants that we might be likely to visit, as well as the central plaza. He explained the layout of the town so that everyone would feel comfortable finding a way from home to school and back and to anywhere else that we might need to go. But it was threatening rain, and we hurried just a bit at the end, walking back to CPI to pick up some of the belongings that we had left there. We all found our way back to our host family home, so we officially can now get around to where we need to go!
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Tami
non-member comment
Thanks
Dr. O Thanks for sharing this great experience with us!