Hi everyone! We are all safe and sound here in San José, Costa Rica and have enjoyed a few days of getting settled in the city. We’ve had some long travel days, but have also explored our hostel and neighborhood and even ventured out of San José for an afternoon.
On Friday I woke up at 4:15 in my hotel in Chicago and made my way to O’Hare Airport. Emily was on my flight, and I appreciated having a buddy with me as we boarded our first flight, ran for our tight layover in Charlotte, and maneuvered through all the taxis, shuttles, and Ubers at the airport. Once we were in the car, I was able to take a good look at San José through the typical afternoon rain. I noticed that all the billboards and advertisements phrase their slogans in “vos” instead of “tú,” which our vice provost Dr. Baker had explained to us during orientation. Once at the Selina Hostel, we met up with some of the students who had already arrived, and walked around our new home for the next two months. Our dorm room is pretty small and dark, but there’s a common kitchen and a terrace with a great breeze, so I anticipate we’ll be spending much of our time up there instead of in the room. In the evening, our professor Dr. Wettergreen picked us up for a group dinner at a local outdoor food hall. We met his family and shared some great pizza and tacos.
On Saturday we visited the downtown produce market with Dr. Wettergreen and his family. There were lots of different fruits and vegetables, but I was especially excited to find mamones! I’ve had them with my family in Puerto Rico, where we call them quenepas. They have a thick green skin and a soft orange pulp, with a big pit in the middle. Even though the name is different here, they were just as delicious as I remember. I’d like to come back to the market next week for some tortillas and peppers. Maybe we can make tacos in our hostel kitchen! Later that day, we did some grocery shopping at the Automercado. The store was more upscale than I was expecting, and I was surprised to see a lot of familiar American brands. They had Essential Everyday basics, and even Brianna’s salad dressing, which I always considered a slightly “fancy” brand, even back in the States. Later, while doing some research, I found out Automercado is one of the more expensive grocery chains in CR, since they import a lot of American products. Over the next few weeks, I’ll try some other stores and see how they compare in price and selection.
Sunday was our big excursion day! We ventured about an hour north of San José to the Hacienda Alsacia, where we took a Starbucks coffee tour. We saw the plantation and the machines they use to clean the coffee beans, and of course tasted some coffee. There were beautiful views of the mountains and, of course, a bit of rain. Now to settle in for the evening and get ready for clinical observations tomorrow!