Avenida 14

Gooooood morning San Jose!

Had a great day yesterday exploring the city. Jorge showed us how to get to the National Theater, which will be our meeting point for the next couple weeks. San Jose, however, is not an easy city to navigate, and I can't quite find it by myself yet. Thankfully I do know that our hostel is on Avenida 14. Street signs are very rare here, but we are lucky enough to be located on a corner that has one.

Also yesterday, Jorge took me to the mall in Escazu, one of the more upscale parts of San Jose, to buy a cell phone. (I'm really starting to wonder what I would do without this kid.) This was a complicated process. First we went to a store and I picked out my phone, the cheapest one they had. Then we had to go to the bank, where we were heavily screened at a security checkpoint, and waited for about 10 minutes before being called into an office. I decided on a calling card for 10,000 colones (about $20), then was directed to another desk where I presented my passport and paid for the card. So I now have a Costa Rican cell phone number, which is 001 506 8784 2939 if you're calling internationally... which is very expensive so I wouldn't recommend it.

After we were done getting the phone, we came back to the hostel where Jasmin, another volunteer from Switzerland, was waiting. By then it was already dark, but she and I went for a short walk before coming back and getting ready for bed. Over the next 2 hours, 6 more volunteers came from Germany, Austria, England, France, the US, and another from Switzerland. Language hasn't been a problem; to my surprise, everyone here speaks fluent English.

Got up around 7 this morning and went running with Dakota, the other American, and then came back for an icy shower, which actually felt surprisingly good. We're expecting Jorge around 10 to take the entire group for a city tour and to show us how to use the public buses. This should be interesting.