I had a couple of hours between classes today and walked to downtown San Jose with a friend, Debbra, who is from northern California. It only takes about 30 minutes to walk there and there was a pleasant breeze--a much welcome relief after a humid morning.
Right before getting to the center of town, there is a wall that is painted with all kinds of "public art." Here are a few samples:
 |
| The wall is probably 60' long and covered with all kinds of art. |
 |
| Same wall as previous picture |
 |
| Same wall |
There is also a lot of graffit all over the city. Any building not in use has been tagged at least once:
When we got closer to town, there was a crowd of not-so-happy people outside the legislative assembly building and several police officers keeping an eye on them. I'm not sure what they were protesting, but the gate was locked to them. They would occasionally shout out their grumblings. It was not by any stretch of the imagination dangerous or out of control, just a gathering of people anxious to express their opinion to the legislature. Next to the building scrawled on the wall, someone wrote. "The docks/spring (the word muelle means both things) belong to the town." Another read, "Down with the PLN." (a political party)
As usual, as we approached downtown, the streets were filled with people and street vendors as far as the eye could see.
In a park we saw a mime and a VannaWhite-like-girl holding a sign to get people to drop coins in the mime's hat for each move he would make:
 |
| Everyone is looking for a way to make a buck...er, I guess that would be a colon. |
And we saw the most curious statue. I'm not sure of its purpose:
 |
| Big Mama comes to San Jose. |
Finally, we ended up at the Mercado Central (Central Market). Think of movies you've seen that take place in foreign countries and there is a market scene. That would be the Central Market. The place was huge with row after row of stalls that sold everything from meat, to flowers, nuts, spices, coffee, fresh fruits and vegetables, traditional and modern clothing, jewelry, pets and pet supplies, small cafes, just about anything you can think of. Everything was crowded together with people trying to get you to stop at their place and buy. I didn't buy anything, but I sure had a good time checking it all out.
As we turned to go back to the school, we made one last stop at the National Theater so Debbra could buy symphony tickets. My jaw dropped when we went inside. It is a very classically decorated theater:
 |
| Foyer of the National Theater |
Bus Update
I didn't think the bus ride home could top the one last week, but each day seems to get more frustrating.
Yesterday, after waiting for an extraordinary amount of time, I saw a bus that said, "Santa Marta," but didn't pay attention to the fact that it also had 10 other places listed. Apparently, it brushes by one little corner of Santa Marta and makes a sneaky left turn, which caught me by surprise and also took me away from where I wanted to be. I panicked and got off the bus as soon as I could. I ended up with a 30 minute walk home...
Today, it was dumping rain, but I was determined to wait for THE bus to Santa Marta. I waited over 40 minutes when one finally came along...it was full with no room for one more thing. I waited, waited, waited... Finally a bus to Granadilla came along. Granadilla is the town after Santa Marta, so I figured I would just get off in Santa Marta. I got on. The bus was full, but a nice young man motioned for me to take his seat. The bus was completely and totally filled with people. The seats of course, were full, but the aisle was 2 to 3 people deep from front to back of the bus. The driver kept picking up more and more people. I'm not sure where he put them all, but I was squeezed next to a window unable to see anything because of the dark and the soggy, steamy glass. A few nice people around me who were standing and could see better, kept an eye on our location and pulled the bell advising the bus driver that someone wanted to get off at the appropriate time. Getting off the bus was an interesting logistical task, but I eventually made it off.
Sana y salva.
No comments:
Post a Comment