San Jose

San Jose is the capital city of Costa Rica. Like any big city, it has pollution, lots of people, traffic, bad drivers and bad areas. I needed to come into San Jose to Juan Santa Maria Airport to pick up my friend Emily at the airport. Traveling from Turrialba to San Jose takes 3 bus rides, which is a lot for someone who doesn't really speak Spanish very well.

On this trip I got lucky, and Paula from Serendipity was headed into SJ already, so I got a ride to town. Once there, I had to figure out how to get the the airport. The easy way is to take a cab which costs about $12US. The hard way is to take a bus, which costs about $1US. The problem with the bus system is that if you don't know it, its very difficult to use. Imagine if Broadway and 7th Ave in NY were one continuous bus stop with busses that go all over New York State. The only thing different about this bus stop is that nowhere does it say which buses stop where, when they stop, and where they go. So its kind of a craps shoot.

I managed to figure out which bus I needed to be on via a friendly police officer on the corner in the centro de San Jose. The station was about 10 blocks away so it was quite a haul. I kept seeing the bus I thought I needed go past, stopping at many different places, somehow figuring out who, of the thousands of people waiting on the sidewalks, needed his services. It was organized chaos to say the least.

When I got to the station, I found my bus, and through some very ugly Spanish determined that the bus would indeed go to the airport. What the driver failed to mention (or I failed to understand) is that this bus would stop at every small town between the two and it would take about an hour, maybe more. When I arrived at the airport, I got there right as Em landed, and found great satisfaction in just having gotten there. You don't take the simple things for granted in a place where you know very little. I'm sure the first bus ride is the most difficult.

One other bit about CR. Everyone I've talked to has told me that most Ticos speak English. I'm not really sure where everyone gets this idea, but clearly they never left the safety of their hostel or taxi while in the country. No one on the bus spoke English. I haven't met anyone outside my company who speaks more than a few words of broken English. Maybe I've been in the wrong places, or just those less traveled. Pura vida.