On Forgetting your Own Birthday

I have now lost track of time. Today, I logged into my email to find a number of emails from friends and family with birthday wishes. I was thinking that today was the 11th, but no, it's the 13th. It's my birthday! What a great way to spend a birthday! I am now IN my 30s.

The past new days, I've taken the bus into San Jose to walk around and check out some of the museums. There is a main street through the center of the city that is only for pedestrians. It is always crowded and has a lot of shopping. The bus let's me off across the street from the historic Central Market. Lots of fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and usual market stuff. There are also little counters where you can sit and eat. I haven't tried them yet, but as I am on the lookout for the authentic Tico experience, that is definitely on my list.

On Monday, I visited the Gold Museum, a small museum that displayed pre-colombian gold pieces, as well as an exhibit about birds. The migratory pattern of birds from N. America is entirely land based (I never knew that, but I guess it makes sense), so all of the birds from your backyard that migrate in the winter, must pass through Costa Rica.

Yesterday, I visited the National Museum, which is housed in the country's old military headquarters. Costa Rica disbanded its military in the 50s and still doesn't have one. It's a source of national pride. The museum was great. The military commander's house is part of the museum and it had an exhibit of beautiful old black and white photographs of the city.

The city buses here are really nice. They are like tour buses in the States.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures in the previous post of Monteverde.