San Jose and Manuel Antonio

San Jose
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So here am I in San Jose!  Customs was really easy, no fuss, lots of people but really quick, I was really impressed!  Alex was waiting for me, fortunately, so no hassles there either.  It was raining (really pouring) but as we neared San Jose it stopped.  My sagittarius luck!  And it has not rained much even though it is the beginning of winter (you can wear t-shirt and shorts, though) and it is supposed to rain in the afternoon.  Very accommodating, as it only rains towards the evening, so you can count on morning sunshine!  By the way, except for the centre of San Jose there are no street addresses.  So the address will be something like, 300 m east 100 south of the court, next to sono latino, house colour green...just hope that sono latino, for example, does not move or house is not repainted!  Very strange, but it seems to work!  San Jose is not a beautiful city, as such, but quite interesting.  It is quite busy, quite cultural, as the National theatre has a lot of plays, musicals, etc etc..there was a week about art and culture where there were stalls with all types of arty things like paintings, etc and bands playing for free.  We went to listen to a band from Costa Rica and one from Argentina.  The music was fantastic and there were loads of people.  It was outdoors, it was really good.

San Jose National Theatre
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Generally it is quite safe although like everywhere now, especially big cities, you have to watch out.  Unfortunately, because of poverty and a lot of people coming from other poor Latin American countries, crime has increased.  People seem to have a good standard of living though.  I am staying in a townhouse with two other girls, one from Croacia and one from the Phillipines.  They are very nice and we get on well.  People are really friendly and helpful.  My spanish is really improving.  I know, Rosa, it is not spanish from Spain, but it will be good enough!  Just teasing you!  Every Saturday we go to the market, to buy fruit and vegetables.  It is heaven for me, all this wonderful tropical fruit!  Mangos were 3 kgs for 1 pound, although this Saturday it was for 4 kgs!  Can you imagine, one mango (regular size) costs less than 20p depending on size.  And they are delicious!  I could eat them all day.  I am still trying to organize materials for the schools, have managed to contact a few companies and got good offers from them.  The schools, here and in Nicaragua, need new buildings as quite small and not that nice, and that is our next plan.  To raise money to build new ones.  I visited the school here in San Jose, it is really small, the kids are so cute!  Other projects we want to put in place is to do workshops with kids that parents have aids.

Manuel Antonio
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We had a women's workshop one Sunday, the theme was "me encanta ser mujer" which translated loosely is "I love being a woman".  Anyway, there were about 23 women, and we gave talks and played games, had a vegetarian meal together, a yoga class.  It was really a lot of fun, they enjoyed it very much.  This Saturday there is a vegetarian cooking class.  The weekend after we will have a retreat.

Thursday I went to Manuel Antonio, which is near the beach on the Pacific Ocean and came back on Sunday.  Yes, Richard, it was very beautiful, although I found it too comercialized, unfortunately..and quite expensive as well!  Loads of American tourists, that is why!  The water was really warm, although the sea was quite rough (nothing pacific about it!).  There is a park where you can see monkeys, and iguanas, I saw two of each only, and supposedly other animals which I did not see.  I stayed in a hotel right by the beach, which was great.  It was very hot, and I did loads of walking and suntanning.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Unfortunately, San Jose is inland!

Manuel Antonio
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Anyway, I have rambled on for long enough (should update more regularly, I know).  I will put photos in soon.  Lots of love to all of you.