heading to San Jose

three hours from now I will be one of seven people packed into an SUV headed to the capital of Costa Rica. 

My reason for going is different from theirs though. Steve and the others are going to get supplies and stuff that are cheaper and more readily available there and heading back the same day. 9 to 10 hours of driving for them, I think that's crazy. And it's not like a 9 hour drive from Fort Worth to South Padre going 70 mph the whole way. It's going around 40-55 and around potholes and stuck behind trucks on two lane roads and crossing one lane bridges. 

My reason for going is to pick up Sarah from the international airport Wednesday. I decided to stay for two nights and show Sarah the hostel and some parts of San Jose I'm familiar with. It's weird, this will be my third time there. Many locals don't go there for years. 

It has a really bad rep. You certainly don't want to be in the wrong part. 

The beautiful architecture of San Jose.

There are casinos. Gambling is legal in CR.

Prostitution is also. The "working girls" creep out on the street corners once the sun sets. In a taxi with the windows down, they will call out to you when stopped at a light. 

At one stop when I was on the way back to the hostel with my friend Andy the Swiss, and we were stopped at a light next to a group of hookers. 

I heard one of them call out "How are you doing tonight?" in a less than feminine tone. 

He said something like "those girls looked very strange" to which I replied "those weren't girls, man." 

Experiences like these is why many choose to avoid San Jose all together. The city is rather ugly, all paved with slums and barbed wire everywhere. 

I like going out in the day, walking through the crowded foot paths along the many stores and seeing all the Costa Rican professionals go about their business. 

The crowd in San Jose is almost like one you would see in America. 

Blonde hair, red hair, blue eyes, green eyes, are all common. Strong European influence here. I once had a cab driver here in Tamarindo with light blonde hair and eyes bluer than mine, 100% Costa Rican from Costa Rican parents. 

The locals on the coast look quite different and I'll get into that some other time.

I had some really good fajitas on my first visit to San Jose, first and only time I've had them here, served wiht no tortillas or anything like that.

There's Burger Kings, McDonald's, Wendy's...even a Denny's. 

That's a picture I took of the view from the top of the hostel I always stay at in San Jose. Not in the best area of town but is surrounded by fortress like walls and thick barbed wire. It's the number one rated hostel in San Jose by Lonely Planet and for good reason. Very clean, has a pool, restaurant, dance club, bar, computer lounge. The doors to the rooms even have key cards like a real hotel. All for only 13 dollars a night, for a dorm room. 

The rooftop bar. Most travelers that stay here have just flown into Costa Rica for the first time, so the staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. I might as well mention the name of the place by now, Hostel Pangea, owned by two Costa Rican brothers and run exclusively by Costa Ricans. 

The "solar heated" pool. Kind of cold. San Jose isn't as hot as the coasts and gets pretty cool at night. 

First person I met in Costa Rica, Andy from Switzerland. Nice dude. Offered me a ride in his rental car to Puerto Viejo since he was going there too. He's back in his homeland working at a ski resort right now. 

Here we are enjoying a couple of Imperial beers and jagerbombs. Seriously this is all we had after dinner on our walk back to the hostel. It looks a lot crazier than it was. 

We had some really good in depth conversations about the differences in our cultures back home. He had only been speaking English for two months but we were still able to communicate.

He taught me a few words of German but I only remember one: Probst! (cheers)

I was 210 lbs when this was taken. I weighed myself at the gym today and I'm right at 200 even after whatever muscle I've managed to put on lifting weights again. 

I didn't realize how only 10 lbs can affect the way you look until I saw this picture.

Surfing, biking, walking everywhere, and unfortunately having to eat much, much smaller portions have led to a healthier and happier lifestyle. 

I would, however, kill someone for a bowl of queso from Uncle Julio's right now.