San Jose, Costa Rica

IMG_7764 Originally uploaded by Brayo

We had our first breath of warm outdoor air from the gangway in San Salvador. We changed planes there and had an hour to buy something for Joan’s chapped lips and watch a young woman in a Luigi costume try to get people to play Wii. It’s about an hour’s flight from San Salvador to San Jose, and besides filling out our customs cards, we played sodoku. Neither of us had ever played sodoku before, and we had to do SOMETHING that we couldn’t do when the boys are around. There should be some other things, too. Our hotel has a very nice, warm, waveless pool. It’s indoors, which is probably the right choice since San Jose is in the mountains—the city is warm but the breeze is cool. The hotel is downtown, with multiple parks nearby. When we arrived, a brass band was playing in the park, and later there were acrobats. One unexpected highlight was the 10-block walk to the bus station to buy tickets for our trip to La Fortuna tomorrow. The airplane meals were fine, but small, and even if we’d been well-fed, the smell of the bakery would have pulled us in. It was tiny, and so stacked up with bread-goods that the propieter had to peek at us over the top. I think this was the first time we learned that it’s simply not true that “Everyone in Costa Rica speaks English.” And our little bit of Spanish was enough to avoid Pollo, and read the signs well-enough that she understood what we wanted. All the same, when it was time to pay she pointed at the cash register rather than say the numbers.