Costa Rica

Trip Start Nov 23, 2005
1
Trip End Nov 30, 2005


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Flag of Costa Rica  , Province of San Jose,
Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Buenos Dias !   And just when you thought you´re all done with all my blah blah email, here you are again, wondering how long this email is going to be this time .    My flight this morning arrived early - or I should say, on time, at around 8am.  The whole plan was for me to wait for Maridol at the airport. But then as I stand there thinking, what the heck am I going to do for 6 hours at the airport ?! Nothing planned, and no idea where to go, I grabbed a spanish-english dictionary, change some $ to colones, claimed my backpack, and took a cab.  I told the cab driver to take me to downtown San Jose - wherever that might be.  I guess normally, you'd be dropped off into a hotel - I said, just drop me off at the center, maybe at a place where I can have breakfast (got to have that Costa Rican coffee). He talks too fast, but somehow, we were able to convey to each other the more important stuff.  And yes, I didn't prepare for this, as I thought the whole time I'd be with my friends.   You should all see the proud smile in my face as I struggle to converse with the cab driver, asking what I can do for 6 hrs, explaining I have 6 hrs to kill, blah blah blah
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
.  It's mostly trying-hard-portuguese-with-spanish-accent kinda thing.  And it just gives me a kick when they actually understand me !  Well, once in a while, I had to take a peek in my dictionary ;o).   

 I got off at the "central park", right in front of a historic theatre of some sort.  He explained to me where I can get a cab back to the airport, or how to call them if I want them to pick me up.  Note to self, stop saying "voce" it's not spanish! and stop pronouncing "pode" as po-dje, and "onde" as on-dje  ... think Español Español Español.   So, with my 4750li-backpack on me (whew, thanks to those external frames! I wouldn't have known how to carry this stuff along!), I started walking through the streets of downtown San Jose.  This place is bustling as early as 8:30am! Stores are all open, streets packed with people - and seemingly not in so much rush to go anywhere.  I am the only one I saw that looks like a lost backpacker, but they didn't seem to mind.  That was nice.    I stopped at a restaurant to have coffee - and to have a few minutes to browse through my dictionary. Note to self: first few verbs that I need are "to want", "to need", and "to have".  These will get me through the day I think, it had worked before.  I already have a smile permanently glued on my face , until I sipped my long-awaited Costa Rican coffee, and it turned to a frown ... it's salty !!!  I had put salt on it instead of sugar
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
!  I had to pause for a while, tried to translate into spanish, then asked for another coffee and explained why . The waitress asked me if it was cold  - I said no, I thought the salt was sugar. Why would you put salt in a container that's exactly the same as sugar, on a breakfast table ! But hey, at least I explained it in spanish (well, kinda broken-portuguese actually) !

 So then I kept walking around, from one block to the next.  Payless shoe source, KFC, Quizno's Sub, Pizza Hut, Roxy/Quicksilver/Volcom/Billabong in display windows .... hmnn, felt more like I was in an outdoor Sunvalley Mall.  Weather is gorgeous by the way - not hot, not warm, not too humid. Just purrrrfect !   As I sit here, I can hear the noise of the buses outside, and the horns of cars passing by ... I feel like I'm back home in the Philippines! 

So here I am, once again, in an unfamiliar place, an unfamiliar language - and loving every minute of it.   In about 2 hrs, Maridol & I will go to Manuel Antonio (about 2.5 hrs from here).  Our other friends should already be there by this time, maybe catching monkeys by now .  So that said, you'll be happy to know, that you probably won't hear from me until I get back home.   Ok I better go ... still have few more calle's to check out.   ¡Cuidados!  
San Jose hotels Slideshow
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