Next Stop: San Jose

Today we left the rainforest for the week and headed to San Jose which is the capital of Costa Rica. While driving to San Jose, we passed the Pacific Ocean which was surrounded by mountain. It has to be the most gorgeous site to see a vast body of clear blue water in the center of a plush mountain range. It was about a 3 hour trip and the drivers here are not the best in the world. While we were going through downtown San Jose we almost got in a bad accident because a huge tour van came into our lane without seeing our van. It made my heart drop a little but I am just glad we are safe. On our way through the city we stopped at a local outdoor restaurant for lunch. This was my first bad experience with the Costa Rican food. Luckily I did not get sick from it but it smelt like something I have never smelt before. Other people in my group loved their meals but the meal I ordered was not very appetizing. After we ate lunch we headed to see these alligators that our guide wanted to show us. We walked along a skinny strip above the high way towards a river that led into the Pacific Ocean. Before we knew it we looked down and saw these humongous alligators on the shore of the river. They were so big that they almost looked like they weren’t real. I did not go down any closer to them because alligators are not something I am willing to mess with. Here is a picture overlooking the city...

We arrived at our hotel midafternoon and it has to be one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever been in. It is called Hotel Milvia and it is this yellow, pink and bright colored hotel with the center of the hotel open with a garden and waterfall type fountain. All of the rooms surround the open center area and they are all decorated with a very unique style. I have new roommates now that I am in a new place and it is cool to spend a week living with each different person in my group. There are 3 of us rooming together this time. Lina, Danielle and I are roommates. Lina and I are the only two girls that are in Greek sororities and some of the other girls are in the multi-cultural sororities. When we got to San Jose, we had some down time in our room so we ended up all gathering in my room and talked about the difference between our two groups lives while at UGA. It is crazy to see how you can go to the same college but live completely different lives. Tonight we are going out to eat at a place in walking distance from our hotel and maybe walk around a bit to explore the city. It will probably be an early night because we have our first speaker tomorrow at the University of Costa Rica campus which is right down the street from our hotel. I hope my luck is better with ordering on this next meal because I have butchered a few of my meals because of the language barrier. Some of my Spanish skills have come back to me while being in Costa Rica but I still have a little trouble forming full sentences and understanding what the locals are saying. I wish I had my brother Brett here to help translate for me!