Nomadic Narrative

As some of you may know, I live in Costa Rica’s capital city, San José. Depending on how familiar you are with the city, that can scare you or intrigue you. I’m sort of straddling the fence here feeling both scared and intrigued with San José at the same time.

I finally joined one of the “Tico Walks” which is a guided tour of the city center. (Tico is the nickname for Costa Ricans) I’m no stranger to the city center, but I wanted to learn more about the city’s history and perhaps a few hidden placed I hadn’t discovered yet.

It’s worth mentioning that when I told friends of mine who live here about the tour, Costa Ricans, Argentineans, North Americans, etc., they doubled over in laughter. Gasping, my next-door neighbor questioned my judgment— “You’re going to PAY to take a WALK in downtown SAN JOSÉ!” Another friend said: “I will DIE and die HAPPY never having done such a thing.” With such violent reactions, it finally became one of those things I just had to do to create conversation.

I was the only one on the tour. (I know; you’re surprised.) My guide, a student from the University of Costa Rica, took me on a two-hour walk around the city. It was not only fun, meeting a new person and getting a different perspective of the city, but I did end up discovering a few new spots—concerts in the central park the first Sunday of each month, movie festivals at the old Variedades theater…now, if I can only convince some of my friends to venture into the sprawling “town” center.

I’ll post some pictures soon of the downtown area.