San Jose

I've only been in Costa Rica since Wednesday, but I feel like I've already lived here for several months. I more or less figured out the bus into and from downtown, where to buy food, joined a gym, and gotten a basic layout of the city, although getting around can be a bit thorny since they don't have numerical addresses. The directions are what I call urban orienteering. In the States it's 102 Lucas Lane, Bethesda, MD, 20814. In Costa Rica, it would be, Bethesda Chevy Chase Fire and Rescue Squad Old Georgetown Road, 300 meters North, 100 meters Northwest. It makes no sense thus far but I plan on conclusively figuring how Costa Rica managed to opt-out of the standard address system.

The Ticos (as people from here are called) are unfailingly polite and helpful. The national expression is "Pura Vida" (pure life) and like "fuggedaboutit" in Donnie Brascoe, it can mean several things, including: "I'm fine" "cool" "thanks" "your welcome" "right on."

I'm still getting used to the rain. It rains everyday and when I mean rain it looks like you jumped in a pool if you don't have an umbrella or shelter. An umbrella is as indispensable here as a cellphone back home.

One thing that's the same as back home is that there is a Best Western and Denny's 3 blocks from my place. It's funny but depressing to know that I'm only a short walk away from a GrandSlam breakfast.


The other news to report is that Kate (one of the Habitat employees) offered to rent me her room for the rest of my time here. I have my own bathroom and the apartment has internet access and cable. It's fairly bizarre to watch American TV in Costa Rica in english. They have the Food network so I won't get too homesick. They also have Fox news so people here can understand why Americans are so misinformed about everything, which is a useful purpose I think. They even have the same pharmaceutical commercials here, "Cialis is not for everyone, if your erection lasts for 10 hours, consult a veterinarian." "Do you have CKS (cracking knuckles syndrome)? Pileocrap is the only pill designed to safely treat CKS. Side effects are rare and may include a lowered sex drive, thoughts of suicide, and turning into a raging asshole." The best part is that the apartment is literally a 20 second walk to my office (see pictures).

The only downside is that the cat has herpes. It's not contagious, and besides, it's all about controlling outbreaks right as some commercial says? but that's less reassuring than you'd think.

Some Habitat volunteers and I spent the weekend at an amazing beach on the Caribbean coast called Cahuita. I'll post some pics and give the update tommorrow.