Volcán Arenal, La Fortuna

I’m on the 16-hour busride from San José to Panama City. After six weeks in San José, it feels quite strange to leave. I got pretty attached to this place and my stay here has been quite different. I wasn’t really travelling, I was living and working. It’s great that I got a taste of how living in Latin America feels like. My Spanish skills made microscopic improvements, though some of the words I learned (such as Polo or Pura Vida!) are Costa Rican slang and pretty much useless in the rest of the Spanish-speaking world.

In several regards Costa Rica is different from the other Central American countries. It’s more expensive which is not so good but also more safe. I often walked across San José all by myself in the middle of the night without too much concern. This wasn’t possible in any of the other Central American capitals I visited recently.

Orange sky in San José

English is spoken by many people which made life easier. But the thing that struck me the most is how Americanized the country is. It seems as if every fast food chain that you can find in the U.S. also exists in Costa Rica. Even Applebees, Outback Steakhouse and Walmart can be found here. Credit cards are accepted in many places. In supermarkets baggers (aka ‘courtesy clerks’) will put your groceries in plastic bags. Perhaps the worst part is that drinking in public (and cinemas – with exception of the VIP area) is not permitted. The restaurants in San José were good but a bit pricey. But since I had my own place, I cooked at home often. I didn’t manage to visit the gym as planned (or rather, I was too lazy) but I did check out the club scene which I liked a lot. And I made a few new friends.

Eventually, I felt more at home in Costa Rica than any other Central American country. In part, I owe that feeling to the great hospitality that I received here (Thanks Mario, Vilma, Cristian & D’Angelo). Hope to be back soon!