san jose

This will be short, as I have to get to the bus station in order to meet April and Katy in Manuel Antonio. Yesterday was long. I didn´t sleep a wink Sunday night, then all told was traveling for something like 12 hours (door in Stgo to door of hostel in San José. I really like San José, I´ve taken two long walks now and met some cool people in the hostel and basically enjoy the vibe here. It's kind of shabby and run down and cloudy (rainy season, I guess), but the people seem happy and open and everyone I've asked for help (trying to find a place to change my Chilean currency or how to get home when I got lost yesterday) has been really nice. The currency thing is a bit annoying, though. Nowhere in the whole country will give me a fair rate on pesos. None of the banks will take it, and the only currency exchange wanted to give me the equivalent of $34 on the $100 I have in pesos. I guess demand here to buy pesos is reeeally low. Oh well, I´ll just put it in an envelope and at the bottom of my bag and save it for when I get home. Anyhow I´m going to check out now and then maybe have another cup of (good, free) coffee in the hostel. On the hostel: it is called Hostel Pangea and I would recommend it to anyone coming down here. The staff is friendly and today I met my first-ever "Latin American person whose English is better than my Spanish" since I got here. He works at the front desk. The restaurant attached is good and pretty cheap (dinner last night was 5 bucks, breakfast this morning 3) and the dorms are 10 a night. Here´s their website. Bye for now!