They don´t call it Capital Rica for a reason.

I am quite sure that the coasts are mucho mas rica than the capital. -Not a city worth visiting, from what I have seen so far.

I am enjoying my time in San Jose but I am finding the city to be pretty frustrating. There is no real city center, from what I can gather, and it is so painful to get around the city. Yesterday I took five buses and spent just as much time waiting for the buses as riding them! I am sort of getting the hang of the unwritten rules of the bus system but I am still very much a foreigner. Yesterday I flagged down buses all day (because they don´t stop at the bus stops unless you do so) and THREE TIMES the bus just blew right past me! Gah! I must look so obviously hopeless/desperate/American because several people offered to help me. Or perhaps Costa Ricans are just incredibly helpful to small people traveling alone. One very nice old lady sent me on a bus and told the driver "Usted necesita ayudar a ella. Ella no habla español." Hey!! Yes I DO!!!

I guess my Spanish isn´t as good as I thought it was. I originally said that I could understand 89% of what I heard.... Let´s knock that down to about 67%. My lack of confidence in my Spanish abilities combined with transportation frustrations and a lack of a decent lunch left me very vulnerable. When Carlos opened the door at home and greeted me with "¿Como te va?" I just about broke down right there. I made it to the privacy of my room before completely losing it. But I napped, ate a hot dinner with the always comforting Cecilia and Carlos, then retired to my room, did yoga and watched Big Daddy.. "Hip. Hip-hop? Hip-hop Anonymous?" I woke up today with a renewed sense of courage.

T.P. Fishing:
When I arrived at Cecilia and Carlos' house, Cecilia gave me the grand tour of the house and informed me of all the relevant protocol. One thing that threw me for a loop was that she told me to throw away all toilet paper and showed me the garbage next to the toilet. I thought about this for about a day.... You mean ALL toilet paper? Like, all USED toilet paper?... I finally figured out that, yes, you throw away ALL toilet paper. However, my habitual reponse is to always throw it in the toilet. Needless to say, as a result of not thinking at first and then a whole-hearted wish to not clog the toilet, I have had to do some toilet paper fishing. ::::This segement of the blog as been inspired by David Sedaris' short story "Big Boy." If you haven´t read it, you are missing out on connecting with a very human experience.::::

And speaking of airing my dirty laundry-
For the past few days, Cecilia has asked me to give her my dirty laundry to wash. I have been very apprehensive, though, to give her my dirty undies (the whites. *bonus points if you get the reference). I mean, she washes these clothes by hand! And then hangs them up to dry! Well I sucked up my pride and gave them to her anyway. Perhaps they will be on the clothesline when I return this evening.

I finished Cat's Cradle, again. I am spending a lot of my free brain space on this passage:
God leaned close as mud as man sat up, looked around, and spoke. Man blinked.
"What is the purpose of all this?" he asked politely.
"Everything must have a purpose?" asked God.
"Certainly," said man.
"Then I leave you to think of one for all this," said God, and he went away.