Do You Know the Way to San José?

I've been settling in and learning how to navigate around San José...specifically the San Pedro area where the universidad is though. And if we're getting really technical about it, more like getting from my host house to class to places to eat (muy importante) and coming home. Sometimes I feel like those leaf cutter ants, merrily marching to the route that they've established so faithfully there's a visible pathway through the grass. And while I've yet to carry around breadcrumbs to trace my way back, I'm becoming more capable of venturing off the path while still making it home for dinner time.

View from inside the Carmiol Bus! You pay the driver your 210 colones fare (less than 50 cents) and hop on for a ride. 

One thing that contributes to my developing sense of direction is the fact that the streets lack names. You know how when you've just google-mapped directions (or perhaps you've already cruised into the 21st century and are more of a GPS kind of kid), and you finally find that street sign, crisp white letters against that green or blue background beholding the name of the desired street and that feeling of satisfied relief washes over you? Yeah, see that doesn't happen here. Sure there are streets and many, many of them. All paved in the city too, with round-abouts and all! But people use landmarks here to give directions/addresses. And sometimes the landmarks they use colloquially are no longer there physically. Por ejemplo, near my Spanish school there's a Hyundai dealership, that people call "El Subaru" because it was a Subaru dealership for some 20 years before the recent past. How would a Gringa like I know that? (Well it seems like I do...but I'm lookin out for all my Gringo brethren out there).

Whoops, seems like I got lost in my ideas of getting lost! During the day, I actually do other things besides just transport myself...for four to five hours a day, we have our clase de espanol! Which is a lot of structured Spanish, but I get really excited when I use new grammar structures I've just learn while talking to my host mama! I'm pretty sure she's confused why I'm teeming with glee as I team up some solid imperfect subjunctive and conditional tenses in the most mundane sentence.

Under an awning during a casual torrential downpour at Spanish school. 

Some days, we finish class early enough in time to Salsa! And while it would be definitely delicious if I was referring to mouth-watering, meal-enhancing spices, I am indeed, very much for realz referring to the dance. To the baile, if you will. Throughout salsa class, my two left feet seem to stage protests against moving in space with any trace of grace. In fact, never having salsa-ed before (not counting any times I may have spilled pico de gallo on my feet), my feet were so surprised at how much they were moving and exercising, they were about ready to stage a sit-in! But, since salsa-ing towers past merely toeing the line of fun, I'll go marching on with it.

For a change to our daily rhythm (aside from changing the Salsa music), our group went to the Museo Nacional this past Saturday! The museum is housed in an old army fortress, no longer needed after the army was abolished after Costa Rica gained independence in 1948.

One watchtower used during the military days.

This museum is a true Juan of all trades. Walking into the museum, you are immersed in an enclosed butterfly garden, colors fleeting quixotically around. Then you go up to a long hallway where the museo relatively succinctly summarizes the history of the country, from when people crossed the Bering Strait to come to the Americas and moved south with some staying in the general area to the present day. Downstairs in the museum are remnants of the structure's militaristic past with prison cells present, among other facts about the building itself.

Butterflies!

In addition to sharing culturally cool insights, my host mama makes delicious dinner laced with customary Costa Rican cuisine. This evening, I had "sopa negra," soup with beans, a hard-boiled egg, and a banana--a combination I certainly wouldn't have conducted on my own, but a strikingly super soup nevertheless. Since she's in her 70's with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to her name, she's got a lot to say. It's like her life observations comprise a longitudinal study in culture change, noting how she's seen family sizes decrease, divorce become somewhat more common...but also in clear consistency of how children almost always live with their parents until marriage.

View from the small balcony right outside of my room!

¡Continuamos explorando San José!