Leaving on the first field trip tomorrow

Today was another busy day of class and adventuring in San José. Pablo, one of our professors, taught us about the impact of humans on the earth, and then sent us out to interview locals at La Universidad de Costa Rica (University of CR) about their ecological footprints. There is an interesting paradox: Costa Rica is known for its environmental awareness- about 25% of the land is national parks- yet most people in San José don't visit these parks and aren't very sustainable themselves. Part of this has to do with a lack of money and infrastructure; for example, there is no organized recycling in Costa Rica due to unpredictable politics and insufficient funds.

We also visited the museo (museum) and learned about Costa Rica's history and pre-Columbian indigenous populations. It was a lot of fascinating information, and I need to get some sleep tonight, so I'm sorry I can't summarize it all right now. Tomorrow we leave for a two week trip along the Pacific coast, starting in the south and working our way north, and then on to Monteverde. I'm excited to get out of the city. It's crowded, loud, and dirty. It was fun for a couple days, but now I'm ready to see what I came here for- rainforest and wildlife (such as birds!). I won't have my computer or internet for the next two weeks, so it'll be awhile until my next update. In the meantime, here are some photos of San José. There's about 40 more on Facebook that you might want to check out as well.

Walking down la Avenida Central. Drivers don't always obey the stoplights.

Fruit/vegetable stand at the Central Market

On the way to the Museo

At the Museo

At the Museo

Gold decor at the Museo

Note the large ditch between the road and the sidewalk...possibly for excess rainwater during the rainy season? Also used as a garbage bin :(