Gin and Soda

Well, it is my first night in San Jose and I figured I should take my last waking moments to write about my day.

San Jose is nothing like I thought it would be, not really. It is very humbling, and I already know that I will appreciate SO much when I return. The closest place that it is similar to in my travels is the far north side of London, the cheaper, scarier area of that city. Or perhaps a cheap and crowded area of Miami...another student said it's just like Mexico City. That makes sense. It is very, very dirty, crowded, and noisy. All of the cars and vans and buses, etc., are so loud! Not just honking, but the engines. This is a medium to low income country, heavier on the low side. Flying in, there were beautiful mountains and valleys and trees, but the city is dirty and hot. My house is on the main road “up” the mountain from downtown, so there is the constant traffic sound outside. However, once San Jose sleeps, starting around 11pm, it becomes amazingly quiet! Nothing moves!

The house… The houses are very simple, cheaply and poorly made structures, one on top of another. The biggest investment are the huge iron gates and doors that keep the outside out on each one. Crime is apparently a huge deal here, as we have not even had our official first meeting yet with the group, and already I’ve been warned about ten times to be careful, to not walk alone at night anywhere, and to watch like crazy for pickpockets. One of the girls from the previous group last week was robbed at knifepoint, but she gave the guy 2000 colones and he was satisfied and left. That’s four dollars to us. Enough for a decent meal here. Tonight I had tortilla soup, which came with a side of chips and quacamole, and a beer (the famous “Imperial” of Costa Rica) and my bill, with the tip and tax included, was 2800 colones. But anyway… My house is very small and crowded by our standards, reminds me of my crazy cousin Rita’s trailer home! It is also dirty by our standards, dust and dirt, bugs in corners, etc. The walls appear to be just a thin plywood on a cheap frame. I can hear home fireworks going off somewhere right now, perhaps an American for the 4th. Hope this damn place doesn’t burn down. These are simply poor people here. I have pictures of my new place in Fort Worth on the computer, but I wouldn’t dream of showing them to this family, as it would look like I was very, very rich. My parents’ house would be a mansion! Ha! Living here will definitely be very humbling, and I don’t think I’ll be apt to bitch much when I get back if my kitchen isn’t finished being remodeled or my tub still leaks.

Our classes are actually in the “Museo del los Ninos” in the middle of the city, the Children’s Museum. The building used to be a prison! I haven’t learned when it was remodeled yet, but recently, I think. You can find it online, I’ll bet. The museum really only takes up one wing of the “prison” while there is a theatre in another section, and a library, a cafeteria, and offices. We have two classrooms and an office. The museo is about a 30 minute bus ride from where I’m staying...well, plus a twenty minute walk, partly through the red light district! The bus stops very close to my house for the ride in the morning, but drops off a little ahead of my house on the ride back, so I will have to walk a couple of blocks at night. Not too thrilled about this after all of the warnings already about the crime here, but I guess I’ll get the hang of it. Tonight one of the teachers, who I’ve met before, walked me home. He, Robert, has been on the program before like me, but now is hired by Amarante, my professor, to come back and help teach others. Adam, a grad student at UT with Amarante, who has come here three times I believe, is a quirky nerd guy who did not seem to care that he was getting off five stops before me on the bus line. Robert should have gotten off with him, but being a married, older adult, he made sure the rest of us got to where we needed to go. That Adam guy is easy to talk to, but definitely in his own little nerd-land. I was irritated that he didn’t care to make sure we were getting home safely when that’s what Amarante told him to do, but was relieved when Robert just did it. Adam is a little out there. If it’s not technical, he’s not really tuning in.

Today we just got acquainted with everything, got some money, and got home by 8:30pm. (We are only one hour behind Texas time.) Robert and I went to the store about five blocks up from my house and I got some water. Not supposed to drink the tap water. Hope the tortilla soup doesn’t get to me…. Tomorrow we begin our studies. This Saturday we travel to the volcano, a butterfly sanctuary of some kind, and a coffee plantation. Sunday is for resting.

More tomorrow hopefully. I will post pictures of my room today. More pictures in the next couple of days. Adios.

V