Frozen and the Beach

Last weekend, I decided that I needed to get out of San Jose and go somewhere, so I decided to go to Jaco, a local beach about 2 hours by bus, on Sunday. In my free time on Saturday, I went with some friends to the San Pedro Mall to see the movie Frozen in Spanish. I understood everything, it was really cool! Well, not all the words, per se, but I understood what was happening and why. I want to understand all the words soon, but that will only come with time and practice. I'm still a long way from fluent thanks to vocabulary and pronunciation issues.

On Sunday, I went to Jaco for the entire day on my own. It was great! Usually, I don't take a day to simply relax and not think about all the things I have to do, but on Sunday, that's exactly what I did. I walked the 50 minute walk to the bus station since it was a nice morning and I wasn't in too much of a hurry. I bought my ticket the day before for their 9:00 bus and my return ticket for 5:00. I got to see the national theater again since I waked past the Central Cultural Square where it is located and arrived at the bus station about a half an hour early, which was more than enough time to find my bus departure lane and wait for the 9:00 bus to arrive.

While I was at the bus station, I saw some Ticos who asked me, in Spanish, when the bus would arrive. I was able to completely understand them and respond to them fluently, which was great! Just a quick note on the bus system in Costa Rica: there is no central bus station. There are a bunch of tiny bus stations that travel throughout Costa Rica and to Nicaragua and Panama from San Jose, but the terminals are a few bocks apart, so you need to make sure ahead of time that you know where which bus station you need. Also, the bus routes are not published online, so talking to locals and checking at your bus station is your best idea. Some busses require a ticket ahead of time and others you pay as you enter the bus. The busses are not expensive here, as well.

When I got to Jaco, the day was spent enjoying the warm ocean, grabbing a small lunch, and just before I left, I had ice cream. I was not able to find my friend who was already there, but that was fine. I really liked the weather. It was warm, but the water was a perfect temperature. And there was a slight wind to keep things cool. There was also a surfing competition, so I got to watch a lot of surfers on he waves. I'd really like to learn how to surf one of these days.

While I was there, I saw some boats in the distance and decided to follow one with my camera to try to get it and a wave breaking in the same photo. I am super proud of the two that I took; third and fourth pictures from the bottom.

And as quickly as my trip to Jaco started, it was over. I caught a bus back to San Jose at 5 and then a taxi home. I really want to go back to the beach again. It was a great experience!