Visit to Heredia

Saturday afternoon we visited a town north of San Jose named Heredia. This is the town where the University of Illinois has its study abroad home. [I have lots more images to post, but at them moment I'm having trouble uploading images to Blogger--I'll have to try later]

best

Robert

Homemade popcycles

This afternoon, Mrs. Thompson took us to try some homemade popcycles in Hereda. These were quite good and we stopped to take a few pictures at the top of the hill, with the mountains in the background.

A big lunch

Today we had lunch at big restaurant that can serves 100s at a time. The main dish is platters for chicken, pork, beef, rice, and beans served on bannana leaves. It was quite good and more than enough to eat.

A Short Detour-by Becky Baird

It all started when Senora Thompson shoved Liam, Luke, Brooke and I into a cab with directions to "the green church in Heredia." As soon as our cabbie took off he asked me in spanish, "Where are you going?" I repeated the instructions given to him seconds earlier and he gave me a look that is best described as, "what in the???" At that moment the alarm in the back of my head starting buzzing, and I know los tres (the three) in the backseat felt similarly.


Cheryl, John, Emmily and Ten minutes and one near-crash later, we found ourselves in front of a very big, but very white church. We put our heads together and decided to breathe and then ask for directions. My spanish is decent (although I find the longer I am here the easier it gets) but it doesn't do any good if nobody knows where the green church is. With three sets of completely different directions, we decided it was best to return to where we were dropped off. Fortunately, we saw Cheryl and John with Emmily and Joel (the Thompson kids) with looks similar to ours.

As relieved as we felt, the eight of us still had no clue where to go. After a few minutes of recounting all we knew, we saw the lovely Senora Thompson running towards us. We literally ran 5 blocks to meet up with our somewhat worried group, and all ended happily ever after.

If this story is disconcerting for anyone, just know we were never in any danger, had the phone number of our tour guide and could have easily taken a cab back to San Jose. Basically, it was a learning experience that is a pretty good story as well. More later (probably sooner) before we leave el capital. Pura Vida!

Words and Pictures from Sleepy People

Ok, we changed money and the kids tried out their spanish language skills on the cashiers in the bank and I don't believe we were shorted on the exchange rate. In our brains we are translating 1000 Colones as about 2 bucks. We are walking around with wads of 10,000 Colones notes and feel pretty importante. I conveniently failed to mention in the previous post that Luke Matthews lost his visa, id, and money. We were waiting to see if it was found on our tour bus, where he believed he last left it. We were not expecting good news as our bus was used after we rode into town by a group of local factory workers. Luke was starting to check out employment opportunities in San Jose when our travel hosts came through and brought everything back. The picture shows Luke and Becky in front of the Grand Hotel, with Luke not as chipper as he should be. Alls well that ends well.

Ok, the National Theater is beside the Grand Hotel; in our second photograph you'll see how even the angels have to be dusted off every once in a while.

For our third photographic installment you will note our dinining facilities in the Grand Hotel. Dinner consisted of rolls, rice, a kind of beef stew, a type of pressed rolled chicken, some Jello-like dessert, and, best of all, a thick, cantalope/watermellon pulpy drink.

Many of us walked around San Jose before dinner. We are in the heart of a big city, with lots of traffic--imagine Chicago pedestrian trafffic, but squeezed into streets half the size, but, then, so is everything else half the size.

finally, to sleep

Robert y Roberto

Happy St. Patrick's Day, from San Jose

After an hour delay leaving Chicago, which meant we might have missed our flight out of Houston and been stuck in that fair city of Enron and Hurricane Katrina refugee camping facilities until Sunday, we actually made our flight and are now in San Jose. Everyone is a bit tired, but are now a bit energized with the city and are planning to go change money before 5 and eat in the hotel at 7. We will likely just hang around the hotel and get to bed early.

Tomorrow, after breakfast we head to the Gold Museum, then visit the market, then have a traditional Costa Rican lunch using plantain leaves for plates, and then go to visit the UI campus "south."

More to follow tonight, since your faithful reporters (Roberto y Roberto aka Baird and Slesinski).

Costa Rican Food Explorations

I found a great web site that discusses Costa Rican food, drink, and culture. I've already made up my mind that I'm going to have to start off each morning with a plate of gallo pinto and wash it down with some agua dulce. About the agua dulce, I have to say I admire a culture that dispenses with the need for Red Dye #489 and some fat pitcher guy to sell sugar water--La Dolce Vita, no? For lunch, how about Picadillo de Platano Verde con Carne. For dinner, how about Lengua en Salsa? Actually, I'm not feeling like something that heavy tonight; I'll just take the Flor de Itabo and have Resbaladera to drink. Did I mention that in Costa Rica we have two coffee breaks each day?

best

Robert