The Central Market In San Jose, Costa Rica, August, 2008

This city has an interesting energy.  How could I describe it? well, how is it different from Vancouver?  Even when people are walking slow in San Jose, they appear to be moving fast.  Whereas in Vancouver, we even go fast slowly.  I´m not sure if this makes any sense.  Maybe it´s because people here live more loudly.  They talk to each other a lot more, though if you are an outsider don´t expect to be included.  It´s rather like viewing someone else´s birthday party through a window.  To do well here you have to be a Tico, or you have to marry one.  Otherwise you will always remain an outsider here.  This is a very homogeneous culture.  Their Spanish is still almost impossible for me to comprehend.  You don´t get the kind of ethnic and cultural diversity here that we take for granted in Vancouver.  I have run across a few blacks and the odd Chinese, but they are by far the exception.  The blacks are more than likely from the Caribbean Coast, Limon Province, which has it´s own culture, and yes, Ticos look down on blacks here, or so I´ve read, so that they aren´t truly considered part of the culture here either.  They also look down on Nicaraguans, who make up about 8 per cent of the population. I visited the central market today.  Think of how Granville Island would look if the health inspector took a two year holiday.  You have everything there, all manner of food, trinkets, pet birds for sale, crafts, cafes.  It´s all enclosed inside a ramshackle building that covers a full block.  There are also lots of pickpockets there, I´ve been warned.  I´ve been carrying a shoulder bag with me here, which are much harder to break into than a backpack.  When I exited from the market, I wasn´t sure where I was...I´ve already mentioned that most streets here are not marked, so I asked the security guard at the door where we are.  As he gave me directions he also pointed out that my bag was open.  Fortunately nothing was taken from it.  Now, it is possible that I forgot to close it before I left the hotel today.  I have also been forgetful with the key, leaving it in the padlock of my security box.  Or, maybe someone did manage to open it while I was inside the market.  Fortunately I don´t carry valuables with me, outside of whatever money I need for the day, and that´s always in a front pocket.  Once this ankle is feeling better I can get out of San Jose altogether for a while.  Till then, I´m going to have to shut my eyes and enjoy it.  By the way have I written yet about the human excrement that is often deposited on the sidewalk down the street from my hotel, and there are at least four or five homeless young men sleeping on this sidewalk.  Just like home! While I was trying to cross the street ...drivers show pedestrians no mercy in San Jose...the onslaught of vehicals elicited from me my finest Anglo-Saxon...¨Fucking traffic.¨ A young blonde woman, German, I think, heard me and said, Öh do you speak English?¨  She wanted to know the location of a store that she said was called the Ïceland Shop¨, so I walked with her into the Macdonald´s next to us...the only time you will ever see me in a Macdonald´s by the way, whether in Costa Rica or in Canada...to ask one of the staff in Spanish.  The girl there didn´t have a clue what I was talking about, then the German girl showed me her shopping bag that said on it Ïsland Shop,¨so I asked the girl in Macdonald´s about La tienda de Island, then la tienda de isla, and still she didn´t get what I was talking about.  Well, so much for being helpful, eh?   Sat. 23 Aug. 08 My ankle is recovering, but it´s still sore.  Monday I am going to Monteverede, where I will visit again the famous cloud forest.  I was there in 1994 as well.  My memories of this place are especially magical, and I may find myself very disappointed when I get there.  Or maybe not.  It seems that the entire enchantment that Costa Rica had over me consisted of my week in Monteverde 14 years ago.  Now it is time to test it.  Even if the place has become crass and touristy, which I hear it has, it will still be a welcome refuge from San Jose.  I´m going to try to stay there till Tuesday or Wednesday, then spend my last one or two nights here at Pension de la Cuesta before flying back to Vancouver.  Let´s hope and trust that my writings over the next week or so will be considerably less anguished than what I´ve been feeding you guys since I got here.