San Jose: First Impressions

So, after my long night of sitting on airplanes failing at restful sleep, I arrived at San Jose Airport. The green hills are visible from the runway and on the entire walk through the airport and drive into the city proper. I had a great chat with my driver en espanol and had a great, pressure-free refresher. It didn't go as well at lunch when I tried to ask the waiter to repeat himself and mistakenly asked for more options.

The hostel is awesome. It's got a very homey, comfortable feeling, and that awesome mish-mash of buildings/rooms that bed and breakfasts usually have. There's a wonderful central outside area with a pool, hammocks, and awesome jungle-like vegetation. There are so many gorgeous flowers and I had fun just walking around getting to know my hostel. Then, I went out onto the streets in search of a store for bottled water, a bank, and some lunch.

I just started wandering a bit in the area around my hotel, making sure to be able to backtrack if I needed to. The only place I found for water was a Texaco gas station store. Then I had lunch at a little soda and ate the traditional combination for lunch meals: rice, beans, a meat dish (amazing fish this time), mashed potatoes, and fried plantains. The plantains were surprisingly delicious and one of my favorite parts of the meal. I wish I had a photo of the deliciousness, but I'll just have to discretely snap a picture of another meal. The strangest part was dessert, which was strawberry ice cream on top of jello.

the view of the hostel from my door

It began raining in perfect timing after I returned to the hostel and I enjoyed sitting outside my room smelling the rain. I love rain, and it's even better here with the warmth and the jungle plants surrounding me. This is a great start to the trip and I'm so so excited to see more of the city tomorrow.