Sunday, December 16, 2018
OTS Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica
Today was a fun day, we did not have to work or do anything if we did not want to..so, I caught up with emails and started working on the poster for the presentation.
Most of us went down to the town of San Vito at the pre-arranged time of 1:30pm, we were told we may check out that town and walk around, basically be tourists and enjoy the little, sleepy town of San Vito. The town was not very busy, but there were plenty of stores open, including restaurants and bars. There were families in town at that time we were, it looked like they were enjoying their time together after the church services. Most of the little girls were in dresses and the boys were dressed up too. I walked around the town and got some shopping done. I bought some fruit at the fruit vendors' shop, I bought mandarin oranges and also some mangoes. I didn't know how much the fruit cost, but I trusted them to give me the correct change, if change was due. The currency here is in Colones, and the exchange value for these at the airport is, and I exchanged my money for there, 516 Colones for every dollar. So, with that exchange rate, it seems like things are little bit cheaper than in the states. One thing is for sure, they like American dollars and prefer that.
I bought some tshirts for my sons at a tshirt shop there in San Vito. The salesperson did not speak a word of English, but we managed to get through the shopping. I only got two shirts at that shop and total cost for the purchase, after doing the math, was about $7 per shirt. I then walked up the street further and got a little more window shopping in. I was surprised that people did not think I was peculiar or odd walking around with my backpack and a DSLR camera on my chest.
I also visited a bakery, the pastries were freshly made and the only thing I recognized were the donuts. The others were different things that I was unfamiliar with and so I tried something that I did not have before. They were like a turnover or empanada, but they were filled with fruit filling and they had a sweet syrupy glaze on the outside. The crust was crunchy and the fruit filling was still warm from the oven. Two of these, along with a diet raspberry flavored ice tea in a bottle, cost me about $3 American. I ran into two of the other students there too and they were trying new things too; they seemed to be having fun.
The time for the group dinner was set for 6pm, and so I decided to go to the grocery store first to stock up on some things that are not available at the station. I stocked up on cookies, Red Bull, chocolates, and I also bought some Trident gum (I swear they have a monopoly here on gum and also Hall's cough drops seem to be everywhere for sale).
We all met for dinner at around 6pm and we had a spot in the restaurant for our group. We all got the pizza that was preordered the day before and some also ordered pasta dishes off the menu. We visited and ate for about an hour and a half, then we all got back into the red, diesel, Toyota four-runner taxis and headed back to the Station. Overall, it was a fun filled day, getting to experience a different culture and realize that these people work hard for the living too, wanting only to provide the best for their families and making a safe, comfortable home for themselves here in the beautiful tropical country of Costa Rica.
OTS Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica
Today was a fun day, we did not have to work or do anything if we did not want to..so, I caught up with emails and started working on the poster for the presentation.
Most of us went down to the town of San Vito at the pre-arranged time of 1:30pm, we were told we may check out that town and walk around, basically be tourists and enjoy the little, sleepy town of San Vito. The town was not very busy, but there were plenty of stores open, including restaurants and bars. There were families in town at that time we were, it looked like they were enjoying their time together after the church services. Most of the little girls were in dresses and the boys were dressed up too. I walked around the town and got some shopping done. I bought some fruit at the fruit vendors' shop, I bought mandarin oranges and also some mangoes. I didn't know how much the fruit cost, but I trusted them to give me the correct change, if change was due. The currency here is in Colones, and the exchange value for these at the airport is, and I exchanged my money for there, 516 Colones for every dollar. So, with that exchange rate, it seems like things are little bit cheaper than in the states. One thing is for sure, they like American dollars and prefer that.
I bought some tshirts for my sons at a tshirt shop there in San Vito. The salesperson did not speak a word of English, but we managed to get through the shopping. I only got two shirts at that shop and total cost for the purchase, after doing the math, was about $7 per shirt. I then walked up the street further and got a little more window shopping in. I was surprised that people did not think I was peculiar or odd walking around with my backpack and a DSLR camera on my chest.
I also visited a bakery, the pastries were freshly made and the only thing I recognized were the donuts. The others were different things that I was unfamiliar with and so I tried something that I did not have before. They were like a turnover or empanada, but they were filled with fruit filling and they had a sweet syrupy glaze on the outside. The crust was crunchy and the fruit filling was still warm from the oven. Two of these, along with a diet raspberry flavored ice tea in a bottle, cost me about $3 American. I ran into two of the other students there too and they were trying new things too; they seemed to be having fun.
The time for the group dinner was set for 6pm, and so I decided to go to the grocery store first to stock up on some things that are not available at the station. I stocked up on cookies, Red Bull, chocolates, and I also bought some Trident gum (I swear they have a monopoly here on gum and also Hall's cough drops seem to be everywhere for sale).
We all met for dinner at around 6pm and we had a spot in the restaurant for our group. We all got the pizza that was preordered the day before and some also ordered pasta dishes off the menu. We visited and ate for about an hour and a half, then we all got back into the red, diesel, Toyota four-runner taxis and headed back to the Station. Overall, it was a fun filled day, getting to experience a different culture and realize that these people work hard for the living too, wanting only to provide the best for their families and making a safe, comfortable home for themselves here in the beautiful tropical country of Costa Rica.
Comments
Post a Comment