Where to Begin...

It has been a few days since my last post, I have been keeping very busy. Lets see... Wednesday night I went out with Maya, her host brother Jonathan, and a friend of his, Raquel. We went to a place called Lubnan, which has amazing Lebanese food, during which I got involved an argument with Raquel, which I have had with four Ticos since, about the number of continents. Let me explain, we have all learned that there are seven continents; North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Austrailia, and Antartica, right? Don't tell Ticos that! They believe that there is only one America, they ask what continent is Central America apart of? It is a matter of great pride for them and after arguing some valid points for a while I give up and say we will agree to disagree and move on. After the restaurant we went to a bar connected to the restaurant and we had some drinks while listening to a dj play some electronic music which I found rather unpalatable, everyone else thought it was amazing. To each their own.

The next day was a little slow starting for me and after class I went and grabbed a beer with my classmates. The place very cheap, a bit over a dollar a beer, but the environment was lacking a lot. For instance the bathrooms were rather frightening, a small room with a dirty trough to do your business, my classmates said they saw several cockroaches in there as well. Despite that though it was a fun time, and we decided we should all go out that night and have some more fun, which I agreed to obviously. We all parted ways and I came home to take a nap and eat dinner here before our adventures. I called everyone to see if we were still on and Bram, the Dutchman, was the only one still down for the cause. "Guys night out could be interesting," we thought. We decided to go to San Pedro, a district right outside San Jose, to an area named La Calle de Amargura (the street of bitterness) We started out in a bar called Caccios whose slogan is "for a world without reggaton." They serve Imperial in a huge stein for just over two dollars. We sat there for awhile and enjoyed the scenery before being approached by a Tica who spoke amazing English. She is in medical school and off to an internship at Harvard next year. She was very nice and told us some tips on the area and what to do. She had to leave but gave us her phone number and said to call her sometime if we want to be shown around, could be fun. Not more then two minutes after she left the couple behind us started a conversation with us, the guy had been to Germany and was talking to Bram about it and the female had been to the states a few times and we were discussing that. She is a foreign relations major and so we had a lot to discuss obviously. At what point Bram and I were simultaneously arguing the fact of seven continents, it was rather funny in retrospect. That bar closed, so we went across the street to a place where they had some friends it turned out, so we all talked and laughed until the end of the night. The couple gave us their information and said to call them soon for another night of entertainment. We hailed a cab went on our ways.

Friday morning was rather rough and I looked forward to staying in that night, but Bram informed me that I promised we would go out again so I reluctantly agreed. Once again both girls bailed out, but we didn't care as the night before was one of the funnest nights ever. Again we went to the street of bitterness and had some drinks, but the atmosphere wasn't the same so we headed off to another place across San Jose, which Bram had been to the week prior. The name of this place is El Pueblo, its insane! Its essentially a huge mall full of different types a bars and late night eateries, and a lot of people. We went around checking out the different areas, getting a lot of attention from girls as there were no other tourists that I noticed, especially none that were 6'2 and 6'4. We went to some large discoteca, danced and admired the scenery for awhile, before we decided to leave because it was getting late, we both had early buses the next morning. Walking towards the exit we were intercepted by a couple cute girls who wanted us to come get food with them we agreed wholeheartedly. They took us to Taco Bell of all places and we chatted for awhile and then they told us that they had boyfriends they had to go see and gave us there contacts before taking off. Scandalous Ticas! We stumbled into a cab and went home.

Upon this writing I am very sore, yesterday morning after two hours of sleep I woke up and ran into San Jose to catch a van with Maya. We were late and the van was gone, but fortunately a gentleman offered to call them and after a bit he rushed us into his cab where we flew down the busy streets meeting the bus just moments before it jumped on the expressway. It was pretty epic. The tour guide jokingly gave us trouble about it before explaining to us the ins and outs of whitewater rafting. That's right, yesterday I risked life and limb on the Rio Pecuare, in Turriapal, about two ours outside the city. The place was absolutely beautiful, an insanely large river running straight through the jungle. The boat I was on was all American except for Maya and another gentleman who was a Tico. It was my first time whitewater rafting and will definitely not be my last. The rapids were insane, we were thrown left and right but never flipped (we did watch a boat of Americans behind us flip, no one was hurt so it was very funny.) We had a break for lunch in the middle of the jungle next to the river, I can't wait for my jungle treks I plan to do in the future. I saw all sorts of butterflies, an iguana, a couple small lizards (one of which was in our boat somehow and spent some time lounging on my leg), and a huge wolf spider. I love this place. After three hours, countless rapids and some much needed time spent swimming in the cool water it was over. We got a couple group photos, exchanged email, and parted ways.

The van ride was spent in and out of slumber for most of the group, myself included. I got home exhausted and a bit beat up. I was invited out by Christian, which I quickly declined. I need rest badly, so I passed out shortly after dinner and slept through the night easily. Today my body is stiff and sore, but the memories of yesterday are worth every shooting pain in my back and legs.

Until next time, for I am off to enjoy homemade sushi down the street...