San José and more

fish market in the centro mercado
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So, since I last blogged, our class visited the center of San José for a day to check out the Centro Mercado, museums, and other things to see there. San José isn't that bad actually. Lots of people talk about how dangerous and ugly it is, but it's got a lot of museums and plenty of pedestrian plazas. It's not a place I'd want to live, but it's a nice place to visit.

Spanish classes are going well so far. We mostly talk about random stuff and occasionally do exercises and games. We had our first lectures in sociology yesterday and today. They were about the history of Costa Rica. In a little while we'll have our first lecture in ecology. I think we're going to talk about the geological origins of Costa Rica and it's climate.

They don't have any addresses or street names.

the ICADS courtyard. Qué bonita!
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Oh, that reminds me: I haven't mentioned how beautiful the weather here is! It hasn't rained since I've been here, only misted. It's never above 80 degrees and almost always sunny. It's perfect weather.

So, last night I went to a discotheque called Castro's with a bunch of people from my class and couple people from homestay families. It was really fun! A few of us tried our best on the dance floor, but we definitely didn't compare to the outrageous latino dancers. :) Oh, I forgot to mention that we all went to another club on Monday called the Jazz Café where a jam/jazz/fusion band played. That place was really nice, but a bit expensive. Castro's was definitely cheaper. I got 2 mixed drinks for less than 4 dollars total. (It's very cheap here, in general).

Flowers in the courtyard
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Anyway, so I'm going to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve this weekend with the people in my class. I'm really excited! I've always wanted to visit a place like that. We're going to do a canopy tour and zipline, and hopefully a hike. I'll write more about it when I get back!

Oh, some bad and good news about my homestay family. Yesterday my homestay mom got very sick. She had to go to the hospital. It's something with her stomach. Also, the dog Lana ran away! :( But some exciting news is that Indira found out she's having a boy! I saw the DVD they put together of her ultrasound. It was amazing! He's in perfect health. She's thinking of naming him either Justin, Nathan, or Ethan. It's interesting how she picked obviously non-latino names. I'm going to ask her about that the next time I get a chance.

San Jose
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More idiosyncracies of Costa Rica: - They don't have any addresses or street names. For example, my address is something like cerca de la iglesia de Curridabat, en frente del bar Pacochueco, 200 metros sur de banco nacional. Crazy, huh? It can be very confusing when trying to tell a taxi driver where you're headed.

Well, I have to go back to class. Hasta luego!