fin de semana! Day 8

Today is 9/11, one of the most notorious days in the history. As for me, it's a bittersweet day. I don't think I need to elaborate too much on the bitterness of the day, but it's also my Dad's 54th birthday. What a great day to have a birthday on now huh? I recall that day 5 years ago very well. It's one of those things that I guess I always will remember. I know a lot of other people, who are older remember exactly where they were when they heard that JFK was shot, or when the Challenger went down.

I was on my way out the door to a philosophy class. I was going early because we had a test, but I sat down to catch a quick bite and turned on the television. It didn't really sink in that it was an attack at first, I thought it was more of an accident. As the newscasts progressed though, things started coming together. Even after I realized it was a terrorist attack, it didn't really hit me because I still had to go to school. I didn't realize the magnitude that those events would have on the world later that day, or even now 5 years in advance. I'm not sure that I've gone a single day since without thinking of that day, or hearing some piece of news on it.

Five years later, I still don't know what to think. I'm a conservative cat, and a staunch supporter of our President, but there are so many questions I have about the way things have been handled. Last night on Headline News (one of the few English channels I get) there was this guy who said he was conservative, but felt the same way as I do. He said he was not shocked and awed by our campaign in Iraq, and truthfully neither was (am) I. We're arguably the most powerful nation in the world, but we're not fighting to win, we're fighting not to lose. We need to get people home, and get that over with. However, we need to finish what we started first.

Just my thoughts on that....On the lighter side....

Happy Birthday to my Dad.

So the weekend...

Friday after class we all met at the mall San Pedro, which is about a 10 minute walk from where I live. All the others can ride buses that drop them off there. It has pretty much become our central meeting place, other than the school. One of the teachers here gave us the name of a bar that we should go to. We got a cab and were on our way to the Longhorn bar. It was supposed to be a place where everyone could dance to latin music and have a few cold ones. When we got there it wasn't really what we expected. It looked a little like a Texas themed barbecue joint from the states. Only not in Texas, somewhere up north where all the stereotypes were present. We didn't even end up going inside. We got another cab, and went to a place called Moomba in Escazu.

Escazu is a little like Garza Garcia in Monterrey. The more affluent part of the city. The bar was 2 storied, and had a 3500 colon (+/- 7 dollar) cover. When we walked in, they gave us a cup. I was thinking it was going to be like a keg party in college where you paid for the cup at the door, then could drink all the beer that you wanted. As we walked up the stairs I was expecting to see keg after keg. When we got to the bar though, it was all the mixed drinks you could drink for free, until midnight. We got there at about 9:45, so we had plenty of time. They played a good mix of music, and after a while, we went downstairs where more people were dancing and did a little dancing of our own. It was a good experience for all of us, because we got to cut loose, and get to talk about things other than Spanish class. I got home at 2:30.

We decided the night before that we were going to hit up downtown San Jose the next day. We met at the mall again the next day at noon. We all looked a little rough I'm sure. I bet all the ticos were laughing about the hungover gringos! We ate in the food court in the mall, and afterwards took the 10 minute taxi ride downtown. The taxi driver dropped us off at the Central Theater, and from there we did a little exploring. The first stop was the Theater itself. It's a great big building, when we walked in I was surprised how small it looked from the inside. They had a piano concert that night, so we bought tickets. They were around 4 dollars a piece.

After leaving the Theater we went several other places. We went to a plaza where they had some kind of weird architecture. I still don't know exactly what it was dedicated to, but it was neat to look at. After that we went to the Catholic Church. It was huge, not anywhere near as big as St. Peter's in the Vatican, but maybe a 10th of it (Which is still huge). The ceilings were very high, and there were a lot of unique features in it.

After leaving there, we walked some more, and ended up in the Museum of Gold. It's all underground, which was pretty neat. They had an expo on pre-Colombian natives in Costa Rica. Then we went into the Gold part. It's amazing how much gold these people used to wear, or have access to. It was an awesome exhibit. After a while though, it was like we were looking at the same thing over and over again. Our favorite part of the whole thing was the air conditioning though. It felt great in there.

Before heading back to our part of San Jose, we stopped for a little drink in a cafe that's right on the square in front of the Theater. It was interesting to sit there and watch the people walking by. After a quick drink, we went back to our respective homes to rest up, and get ready for the concert.

Now for my least favorite part of the night. For me to get a cab or anything, I have to walk to the mall. Like I said earlier it is a 10 minute walk. We were going to meet at 6, so we could go get a bite to eat, and be at the theater before 7:30.

The fun part, it rains EVERY DAY in Costa Rica. Saturday it rained especially hard, and of course never harder than when I needed to go to the mall. So I put on my rain jacket and left. By the time I got to the mall, I was soaked. Actually soaked is an understatement. It was like I went swimming in my shoes and pants. We grabbed a cab, and returned to my house, where I changed. I had to wear the same shoes to the concert though, because sandals are not permitted.

We went and got dinner. I had a little steak, and a few other things. The food here isn't magnificent, but it's better than par. Afterwards we went to the piano concert. That's not really my kind of deal, but it was enjoyable. I was thinking the whole time about the Ohio State vs. Texas game, but it doesn't look like I really missed anything.

Afterwards, we all went home, and that was it!

Yesterday was lazy. I studied, watched some football (americano), and read a bit.

Today, I'm about to start class. I'm wearing my crocs because my shoes are still wet. I'm also ready for the weekend. We've got a big trip in the works.

So that's it for now! I'll catch up with y'all later...Have a great day...