So Wednesday night Antonia and decided to join a group of people from the hostel and go out to a bar nearby. It was 'ladies night,' so I got a free drink and spent the night dancing and having a good time with new friends. The bar was packed. Highlights include the DJ restarting every song he played at least twice because he was shouting over the music so much and a thug looking Costa Rican wearing a Keith Haring sweatshirt. The night ended with the hostel owner showing us a video of him attacking a bull - hilarious. Yes, it was just as ridiculous as it sounds.
Yesterday morning I got up early for banana pancakes (I love pancakes, especially when they are free) and proceeded to do basically nothing with my day (aside from upload photos on fbook and talk to my dad on skype!). Wednesday morning/early afternoon was beautiful and sunny and hot - I am definitely sunburned - and it has been raining since then. Antonia packed up her stuff and moved in to her apartment here in San Pedro. Around noon Sasha, my new friend from California/Hawaii, arrived. She's never traveled out of the country before, so she decided to spend some time traveling and doing yoga on the beaches of Costa Rica by herself - pretty awesome. We are now travel buddies. So, in regards to the title of this post, my mother really does know best and good things happen when I listen to her. I originally had thought of getting off the plane and moving into an apartment right away, but she knew better and suggested I make some friends at a hostel first instead. Brilliant woman she is. :)
Antonia heard about a talk at UCR from her new roommate about the US bringing troops to Costa Rica. I figured if I was planning on staying here, maybe I should get educated in the goings on in this country. So Sasha, Sean (another friend from the hostel) and I walked over to the university to get learned. Obviously the talk was in Spanish, and mine is a little rusty, but I got the general idea of what was going on. Moral of the story: Costa Rica is proud of not having an army of their own, and thinks the US has no business bringing theirs anywhere near this beautiful place. There seemed to be some concern about US military influence having the same effect here as in other countries, namely Guatemala and Nicaragua. There was talk of protests. It was interesting.
After getting our learn on, we decided it was time for dinner: pizza. At some point I will eat some Costa Rican food I swear! The rest of the night was pretty boring, I decided not to go out because I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed early because I am getting sick, but I ended up sitting up talking with another hostel-stayer about traveling. We exchanged horror stories and amazing experiences. He's off tomorrow to see a little of CR and to meet his girlfriend in Panama City next week, then back to Denmark, so no travel partner there.
This morning I woke up early, hoping for an email about a job interview I was supposed to have. I had been in contact with a man at a junior college in Heredia (just north of San Jose) about teaching there, but his assistant hadn't sent me directions and an address as promised. I had emailed him when we got back from dinner around 7:30pm, but still hadn't gotten a response. By 9:15 there was still no response so Antonia, Sasha and I decided to head out to Heredia anyway to check out the town and see what there was to see. We arrived shortly after 10am, and began wandering around the town. At first, I wasn't a fan - there really wasn't anything spectacular about the place and it didn't seem to be much better than San Pedro. BUT, then we stumbled upon the market. Rows of fresh fruit stands, butcher stands and bakery goods among other things. From then on my entire perception of the town turned completely around. It's a pretty cute place, once you get past the initial appearance.
We stumbled upon the 'central park' and sat for a little bit. Around noon we stopped in to quickly check my email to see if I had heard from the school... I will try to reschedule, I think. On the other hand, I had found a posting for a very inexpensive apartment in Heredia yesterday and had received word from her (Saray/Sarah) that it was still available if I wanted to see it. I tried calling her a few times to no avail (she was in the bank), so we all headed back to San Pedro instead. Since then we have exchanged emails and I am going to meet her and see the place tomorrow morning. She has also said she knows of a potential job and will try to get me an interview! I like her already :) So far she seems great - nice, friendly and super helpful. I'll let you know how that all goes.
We got back to the hostel this afternoon and hung out, contemplated a trip to La Fortuna, and I Skyped with my mom :). We made dinner here at the hostel to save some money, and are now getting ready to go out for a bit to the bars. I have been chugging orange juice since I have a cold, and have decided that it is probably not the best idea for me to be going out super late. Thankfully, another girl from Germany arrived today and doesn't want to stay out too late either. We decided we are going to be early-to-bed buddies tonight. Even though the bar is only a couple blocks away from the hostel, neither one of us wants to walk home alone, so we are going to go home together whenever we decide we are done for the night. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the hostel boys will walk with us as well.
That's all for now, I think. I hope you all are doing well - let me know what you are up to. Besos e abrazos, love and miss.
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