downtown

The more cities I see, the more convinced I am that I belong in the country.

Today I went downtown to San Jose for the first time with a tour. It was big, and bustling, and the skyscrapers really weren't scraping the sky. I visited the Teatro Nacional, the Museo Nacional, and did a cool walking tour and saw lots of the city. Awkward moment though, when a woman who noticed our tour began following us...she paid her way into all the museums we went to, but was asking our guide questions, interrupting him, and some students were lagging behind talking with her. I approached her and told her that it was a private tour, that our students had paid to have a guide, that this was not an open tour and that she was not part of our group. She took great offense: I think she misinterpreted what I said. She kept saying that Costa Rica is a free country and that she could go where she wanted, that I should not treat Ticos this way, that she was not bothering anyone. My emphasis was that we were on a private tour, with a private guide. If she wanted to ask questions and see these places, she needed a personal guide and not to continue asking ours! There was a bit of a showdown in the lobby of the museum, and she yelled at me...just doing my job. I was upset in the moment, but now I think its funny more than anything!
Tonight I have to go to another soccer game. I do not play soccer. Hopefully tonight I can meet with some other chaperones, who plan to hang out later. There are five of us here right now in Heredia: the office is pretty tight on space right now.