Day Two - San Jose - Video
My morning coffee spot
I'll do my best to post a blog and video every day of the trip but because of the travel and spotty wifi, I can't promise. Also, as I only have my older laptop, I reserve the right to go back and add edited pictures later.
Another day in San Jose, my first full day in the country.
I'm staying at an Airbnb, a yoga studio that has evening and weekend classes that I'm free to attend when I wish. As there's no one here during the morning and daytime, I'm guaranteed a quiet stay. The message from the host promised as much and I wasn't disappointed. Even with the classes going on, I'm hardly bothered and the patio is the perfect place to start the day with a cup or two of coffee.
The message also said that the trains start promptly at 8 and again, my host was correct. Luckily, I had already woken up by the time the first one passed so I wasn't startled awake. The trains ride on a track that's elevated and just out of sight so it wasn't really much of a bother at all. After coffee, I was able to spend a quiet 45 minutes breathing and stretching in the wonderful space here. The quietude of the studio is equal parts refreshing and maddening but part of the reason that yoga is so good for me is that it both helps me calm my mind and it also lets me know that an unstill mind is ok, too.
This is my first trip to a Latin or South American city but it seems to match the image that I've formed by seeing other such towns in movies or travel shows. It's loud, crowded, kinda dirty but with so many cool, hidden gems that I'm in no way displeased. Yes, I spent most of the day centered in the business, government, and historical part of downtown but I did manage to get a few miles in some of the close-by neighborhoods and parks. Tomorrow, I'll make it a point to see how far I can get outside of the city center.
I like walking. I like walking through areas that the tourist guides don't cover. The streets are dirtier, the people that you encounter are used to seeing their own neighbors and countrymen, the shopkeepers aren't tired of tourists, and folks always seem to be more genuine. What I often find interesting is how the buildings and streets are put together, how the homes and businesses are different than ours.
Many of the shops that exist here wouldn't or couldn't exist in the US. If I were to sit and think about it more, I'd think that it would have something to do with property ownership and the power of free enterprise Vs. government control of which businesses may exist in a certain space. I can't see Walmart moving into the downtown area with them having to spend a huge amount simply on infrastructure. The streets, sidewalks, public transportation, and utilities seem more set up to serve a densely packed population that a huge retailer. There ARE Walmarts here and honestly, I'm very curious to see how they fit their distinctly American business model into Costa Rican culture and city planning. Is that weird of me?
Another weird/cool thing? I'm a giant here. Yes, I'm tall-ish but in America of most or Europe, that's not a rare thing. Here, though, it's plainly obvious. And the streets are PACKED all day long. Who are these people and why are they running around so much. The part of town that I'm in may have several nice pubs and such but I wouldn't call it a nightlife district. It's more of a business and government sector. If that's the case, why are they out and about so much? Check the video. At no point am I lonely on the streets ... except at night or in the evening. I've read that most of the city's workforce lives out of the main city, in the suburbs, and when the government and business office close, the workers depart. I can see that as the past two days I've seen folks queued up at what appeared to me to be random spots along the sidewalk that turned out to be stealth bus stops to parts unknown. As I was sitting having a bite to eat, I saw what appeared to be thousands of people line at various points along a busy intersection get on their buses and head home. Within that half hour, the decrease in pedestrians was noticeable.
So, yoga ...
I got home in time to take a quick nap and to make it to the 6:20 Mixed Yoga class led by Bruno. And by 6:20 Mixed Yoga class, of course I mean the 6:15 Pilates Floor Conditioning class led by Alex. That dude kicked my ass! In a recent Yoga/Meditation course I attended, the instructor said that "yoga" is such a vague description of the things encompassed by the term that he rarely knows what one means by that word. Keeping that in mind, I went through the first part of the class thinking, "OK. this is still yoga-ish." It was a lot of calisthenics, isometrics, body-weight exercises, and sadistic torture so I was a bit confused. My yoga usually comes with less internal crying and complaining.
Alex is awesome! Yes, he's very fit and gave us a heavy dose of work but he was so damn nice about it that I didn't want to disappoint him ... so I kept on trying. There was no meditation, no proper yoga poses or Sanskrit names, no 'Namaste' ... just pure ass-whoopin'! Though I prefer to know in advance when I'm gonna be in a class that focuses on strenuous effort, when I do go to them, the biggest benefit is that I don't have time to cry or complain or think bad thoughts. Yes, I value the yoga that gives me an opportunity to both reflect and make peace with those thoughts, but being in a class with a physical focus makes me work HARD and thus, it gives my monkey mind a well-deserved break. Plus, dammit, it reminded me that I'm nowhere near the shape that I'd like to be.
After my long walkabout tomorrow, I'll try to get into the proper class. See you then!
