Hola lectores! I hope you are all doing well! This past weekend, a bunch of my friends and I decided to hang in San Jose rather than travel to a mountain for hiking or to a beach for swimming. I think a lot of my friends and I were just tired, so we thought it would be cool to explore San Jose and save some money. We ended up going out on Thursday night (because we don’t have class on Fridays) after classes and it was fun! But then on Friday we had a meeting with the embassy to discuss safety and security and it was very beneficial as it kind of gave us insight on when we can call the embassy for emergencies and what not. Anyway, after the meeting, I was planning on doing some homework, but my friends wanted to go to el mercado central to explore and buy some gifts for friends and for ourselves, so of course I said yes. This market is in the center of San Jose where we have a majority of our classes, so we were familiar with the area and we got there pretty quick. The central market building was built in 1880! It’s a national treasure! Okay, so to describe this, I’m assuming you all have been to Reading Terminal Market because this is a Drexel Blog, so I think it is safe to assume that. This place was like Reading Terminal Market, but with bag shops, tourist stops, restaurants, butchers, and strangely enough, a pet shop. I will be very honest, between the raw meat including fish and the pet store, the smell was not necessarily the most enticing, but the place was very cool! There were a lot of authentic Costa Rican products and it was cool to see how they maneuver their marketplace. Like restaurant workers would bring meals to the shop owners and it was just a very communal and friendly environment. That is kind of how the whole of Costa Rica has been since I have been here; the pace is slower and the people are more willing to go out of their way for others. And I love Philly, like I brag about Philly to my friends here, but Costa Rica just has a special charm. Afterward, we grabbed a quick lunch, and then we headed home! We went out again and it was much more chill and we just got to listen to music and enjoy each others’ company. Of course exploring Costa Rica is fantastic, but personally I value the time I can hang out with my friends and my host family and just relax.
The next day, we went shopping at La Plaza de Lincoln and then went rollerblading at a place located right in San Pedro de Montas de Ocas (where we live). I can NOT rollerblade, but it was cool to do an activity we were all kind of already familiar with, but with a little Costa Rican twist! I then had my first ever Arepa and it was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend to everyone!
Then on Sunday I just focused on homework and hung with my host family and watched Netflix. Overall, it was a very chill weekend, but don’t stop reading yet! Next weekend we plan to go to Tamarindo which is nicknamed “Tamagringo” because of the plethora of tourists it attracts because of how beautiful it is! Until then, hasta luego!!