Oct 2006

Just waiting for the rain to stop. First day I´ve come out the house without my rain coat, and of course there is a torrential downpour. I´ll give it 10 minutos. Am going to go out and explore some of San Jose this afternoon. Looking forward to seeing it as I´ve only really seen the school, the mall (there´s a big Nort American influence here) and Felicia´s house (and the bus route). I´m starting to feel more at ease here now. I have a nice routine which I´d like to keep going for longer. I love the school, and learning all this spanish every day. I feel like it is opening up a whole new world to me. And Felicia is so amazing. I love our chats, and the way she has welcomed me into her home with such kindness. I hope we stay in touch when I leave. This morning she made me soya ham tacos for breakfast! I can´t believe you can get soya ham here! Felicia quite likes the soya mince, especially the way it has less fat than real mince (I think she might even buy it when I leave!)

Costa Rica has a lovely gentle pace. I love the way each day the rain interrupts everything and brings a big sense of tranquility.

Every day when I get the bus back to Felicia´s, it is always really jammed with people, but people seem to work together in a way which I´m not used to. For example, the people standing (I´m always one of them), move down the bus in a line to make space for the new people getting on the bus. There is not a big fight for space, every piece of space is used and it is done so in a very respectful style. Also if a man is sitting and an older woman is standing, always the man will get up. I noticed this in the hispanic areas of LA too. Often the man and the woman will talk to each other too, and it will look like they are friends. But it is just the gesture which has brought on a conversation. So it feels really sad that I actually find this kind of behaviour unusual. I often wonder "what would these people think if they were on the metro?" Often too when the buses are quieter, someone will get on and tell a big story, which unfortunately I can´t understand , and then come round selling chocolate bars. Again, the reactions of the people suprise me. Instead of everyone turning away and pretending the person is invisible, people listen to the story and then quite a few people buy the chocolate. I´m sure lots more things go on on the buses of San Jose but I´ve still to see them.

Hola! Been away from computerland for awhile. A good sign, I think. Went to some paradise type beaches in Manuel Antonio with a load of students from the Spanish School. It was fun, the first night there were little geckoes running up the walls of the cabin. It was hot even when we arrived late at night! It was the kind of humidity I'd expected the whole of Costa Rica to be. Lucky for me though, San Jose, isn't that hot.

We went on lots of walks and saw lots of secret beaches, with palm trees and flowers lying in the sand. The shells were like coral, and there was lizards wandering around. Very different to Tynemouth beach!

One of the days we went on a guided walk and saw sloths (the photo), and iguanas, and lots of monkeys. Wildlife galore, and actually a lot easier to see than the dense forest canopy of Monteverde.

Went out in the local town, Quepos, and chatted to some of the locals which was fun. We even went to a nightclub! Very strange experience here in Costa Rica. Everyone seems to dance in couples. Doing all the salsa moves. Haha it was fun to watch. Then the other music I heard everywhere was reggaeton. Seems very popular in Quepos. Pretty cheesy but from now on it will only make me smile........