San Jose

Yesterday resulted in a sunburn, new friends, and a lot of rain. I successfully attached myself to a duo that is staying at my hotel. Melissa and Isaac are approximately my age, very friendly, and are both relatively fluent in Spanish, which is very helpful. Im finding my Spanish isnt nearly as good as I had hoped, but Ticos are very willing to let me try!
We spent the morning at a butterfly garden, which was beautiful and serene and felt like it was straight out of a movie. We then walked ALL over town to various parks and museums. San Jose appears to be like any other large city in the developing world, though I am impressed with the amount of art all around. All in all though, its not a place I want to stay for long.
Notable things that have happened-
- someone tried to steal my wallet out of my bag by jostling me on the street and unzipping a pocket. They only got my sunglasses case, luckily.
- rain started at 4pm and lasted until I went to bed at 10 or so, which I guess is fairly typical this time of year. When it rains, all the stores close, so it makes for lots of time in the hostel.
- two teens blatantly smoking a joint in a park offered us some. Though we declined, I was surprised how prevalent drugs are here!

Overall, I am finding that the backpacking community is inspiring, warm, and exciting. I have already met several people here that have done and are doing amazing things. Many of them are traveling alone, which is comforting in my moments of anxiety and panic, which mostly occur at night.

I am off to make myself some free pancakes - a huge perk of this hostel! - and then see what the day has in store.