Makin' My Way Downtown

Forgive me, yes, all of the titles of my posts are going to reference movies or songs. Pop culture references make me feel clever...humor me.
 
Today was filled with unforced exploration (unlike yesterday...), and I managed to see quite a bit of the city. I am completely enthralled with this place. As I told my best friend, it is beautiful, dirty, bright, and ominous all at the same time. The best way to describe it is that Heredia has character, and it is unabashedly itself. As mentioned in my last post, the houses and buildings are brightly colored, but they are surrounded by barbed wire and gates (hence why I said ominous). Even my host family's beautiful house has a huge gate around it. The streets are dirty and in some places the sidewalks are broken to bits. However, there is natural beauty everywhere, from the mountains in the distance to the exotic purple bushes (see the pic below) outside of my school. The negative aspects that I referenced do not detract from the city, they merely add another layer of intrigue to the surroundings. Intrigue is a great word, and I feel the need to share a few of the things that have interested or excited me in the short time I have been here.
 
First, they sell liquor in the grocery store. Forgive me, but that is freaking ridiculous. I even had to tell my tica (Costa Rican) family in my poor, broken Spanish how amazing it was for me to see a bottle of liquor in the grocery store next to like cookies and sodas. And the best, most amazing part?? It is amazingly cheap! A bottle of Bacardi was $10.....I swear to gawd. I did not want to look like a lush, so I didn't buy a bottle (I was with my whole tica family), but I stared longingly.
 
Second, Costa Ricans can't seem to settle on the exact spelling that they wish to use for the word "vanilla". I saw a few places yesterday where it was spelled "vainilla" and then in others "vanilla", but the confusion with the word was really driven home today when I went to the super market with my family. In the freezer section, there is a brand of ice cream called "Dos Pinos", and it had vanilla spelled both of the ways that I mentioned earlier. It was as if they were saying, "One of these spellings is right, so we are going to have half of our pints say "vainilla" and the other half say "vanilla"". I'm not sure why, but this occupied my brain for about 5 minutes at the grocery store. Make up your mind, Costa Rica!!
 
Third, gender roles are very pronounced in this country. I have always heard of the Spanish/Latin male machismo, but I guess I never thought about the feminine side of this. The women here wear high heels to the grocery store. I mentioned at the beginning of this post how sidewalks are broken throughout the city, but these women are the truth. Seriously, I could not do heels and super tight jeans with those conditions and with the heat. For women, it is all about outlining whatever shape you have. It doesn't matter if you are heavy, thin, or curvy, you are going to wear tight jeans, a tight or tucked in shirt, long hair (unless you are old), and the ever present heels. I feel like a great big frump monster lol because I have burnt skin (from yesterday), short hair, and loose clothing. The men here do not dress in any noticeable or extravagant way, but cologne is very popular. I'm talking like you can smell that stuff about 10 feet away.
 
Fourth, the cost of living is just all over the place. A bottle of Bacardi is only $10, but a small bottle of  cheap shampoo is $6. As my boyfriend and I would say, "Priorities!".  Enough said.

There are many more things that intrigue me about this place, but these were randomly the first four that came to my tired brain. Did I mention that the sun comes up at 5AM here? I'm exhausted! I will leave you with a variety of pictures from my day. Ciao!

Oh, and quickly I must share an embarrassing moment of the day. I was so proud of myself for knowing how to get to school today by myself because I knew which bus to take and where to get off. I got on the bus, paid the driver, and promptly stepped in vomit. Yes, that is how my morning began. Now, you can look at pictures.

 

This was a view from the third floor of one of the buildings at my university. And yes those are trees growing inside the building. Love it

 

 

This is a random statue outside of the university. I like her and her passing out knowledge ways.

 

This is a full view of the statue and her counterparts. I'm not sure what's going on here because she is passing out books, and they are looking at buildings. But, whatever, I dig it.

 

 

This is the purple bush I referenced earlier. I love it! No flowers, just purple leaves.

 

 

This is a castle around the corner from my family's house. Yes, a castle. Where this very European structure came from, I don't know. But, methinks that they must have liked Beauty and the Beast or something.

 

The castle again, minus the gate. There were people out working on the yard, I thought I was going to get in trouble for taking the picture!

 

 

 

And because I really think it looks like the castle in Beauty and the Beast, I had to use this effect on my camera to make it look this way. Don't judge!

 

 

I just like the juxtaposition between nature and the building here.

 

 

This is painted onto the side of a high school. I think the person is saying they "suffered in silence. Education to the extent of your abilities"...?? If you are reading this, and you know Spanish, correct me.

 

I am super crunk about this watch. It was only $4!! lol I just think it is interesting because it says "Bicycle" and then has the picture of a bicycle. Idk weird thinks interest me. I had to get a watch because I don't have a phone to know what time it is. I feel lost in the world when I don't know the time!

 

 

This is 500 colones (the money here is the Colon), and this is worth roughly $1.

 

 

Here are several different denominations of coins, ranging from 500 colones to 10 colones. I like that they look like dubloons (spelled right?). Pirate money!!

 

 

And this is 10,000 colones, which is roughly $20. I do believe that the picture on the money is of a sloth. Gross.