Penny Lane

Group Email: June 23rd, 07

I promised myself I would include this in the first email, so please bare with me: As most of you know I have been studying anthropology at university for about a year and a half now. I will not go into the details of the subject now (because then I'd have to figure out what they were!) but I will say that the first thing they teach you in an anthropology class is that you cannot say anything without offending/slandering/judging somebody. As you can imagine this is a tad limiting for a writer, because it forces you to censor and rethink yourself with every turn of phrase (also can make you irritating company, but I'm working on that). A fair number of you reading this email are also in anthropology, and know how passionate I am about it-- however, I usually have a limited amount of time in which to write these updates, and I would rather not spend it searching for "neutral" language. All this to say that, for the context of my travel writing, I am just a writer. Agreed?


Who: Nel S., 5''2 Canadian, battling a post-summer school-stress cold
When: 2ish PM, June 23rd
Where: Tranquilo Backpackers, San Jose, Costa Rica
How: Stratford-Toronto, Toronto-Houston, Houston-San Jose
Why: Not sure how to answer this one.



So my first 24 hours in San Jose are complete, and as usual I feel I have been here much longer. The journey here was quite seamless (even though it did begin at 4 AM), despite 23 minutes of severe turbulence (I say 23 because that's what the pilot assured us it would be, but didn't actually time it). On the cab ride from the airport it started to rain and stopped again 3 times; this drive cost me 10000 colones (pronounced cuh-lone-ehs); this is not bad at all, but as I hadn't yet worked out the exchange rate it was a bit of a shock.

I am staying in a 8 person mixed dorm, surprisingly, since I booked a 4 person female. Not that the gender of the room makes overly much difference; if anything it is harder to sleep in a room with girls, who take hours getting ready to go out at night-- talking in stage whispers, giggling at their own attempts to be quiet-- then repeat the whole ritual when they get home. Of course there was a good deal of this last night, as well as some fuss about who was sleeping in what bed, and a lost locker key-- this ended with some yelling in several languages. I was half-asleep through all this, and half reading a pretentious-looking book on Napoleon and wondering why the air here reeks of pot. Not my definition of "Tranquil", but kind of charming in its own way.

For some strange reason I woke up today at 6 AM, and went out almost immediately, hoping to take pictures while it was still dim and cool. Of course I ended up getting lost for a few hours. This city is very difficult to navigate, as every direction you look you there are hills, and distant cloud covered mountains. I spent quite a while on a wide, crowded street called Penny Lane (why?).

Some things I see here: McDonalds (Shrek toys!), KFC, Subway, Quiznos, Wendys, Pizza Hutt (bankrupt).

Some other things: An old woman with pink hair, giant splashes of brightly coloured pain all over the sidewalk, many many crushed cockroaches, a man peeing against a tree, a house with painted snow-flakes all over it.

It's quite a beautiful place, filled with elaborate coloured buildings, and empty parks. I spend a fair bit of time trying to think what city it reminds me of, but I think now it is only details of it that I recognize (the hills and down of La Paz, the stunning crumbling architecture from Lima, the imposing hills of Cape Town, the deafening noise of Shanghai, the eclectic street vendors and green spaces of Buenos Aires), on the whole it is something totally unique-- and thrillingly so.

The gutters are huge, like trenches separating the street from the sidewalk, so you have to jump across every time you cross the road. And the smell! Freshly skinned chickens and cheap cigarettes, rotting mangoes and fresh pastry... On one street it is sunny and on the next it is raining. Between the rain and the humidity my hair swells to twice its normal size. I take over 100 pictures this morning alone and use up my first pair of batteries. I buy a bottle of Coke Light for 470 colones, and pay for it with a 500 coin.

I feel lost, I feel disoriented, I feel overwhelmed and I love it. I love the rush, I love just walking and looking and finding everything unfamiliar (aside from McDonalds). I admit it is a relief to see I have not forgotten how to travel, or as I describe it-- to explore, to listen, to be open to everything, and to keep my sense of humour close at all times. (Now, about those roommates...!) One of whom is waiting for the computer, so I will sign off now.
Much love, until next time,

Nel