After arriving late last night and meeting our host family and their cat, we went to bed so that we would be ready for our first full day today. We woke up and had breakfast with our host abuela. She made us toast, omelettes, tea, and watermelon. I’m not a huge egg person, but it was tasty!

We took a red taxi to the Central Park and met up to begin our walking tour. We went through the fresh produce market and tried some passion fruit. We then went through a park and learned about the countries social health system and outlooks on physical activity. We then returned to the Central Park where we learned about conservation efforts of the cities colonial architecture and went inside one of the oldest churches. After exploring the park we went to a restaurant for lunch. We tried different appetizers and drinks, which were very good. Finally, we went to the mall, which was huge. It had many restaurants, stores, and entertainment options, and the building itself was very beautiful. There was also a Star Wars display to celebrate May 4.

Heredia is not what I expected. It’s much more urban, but simultaneously less “modern” than what I imagined. It has beautiful trees, but not a lot of forests in this area. We also saw parakeets, but in a public park, where I guess I anticipated seeing them in a more forested area. Something else I found interesting was how intermingled the houses are with other businesses. Our own host house has an attached beauty school for through the week. We also saw layouts like a gorgeous white house directly next to a Pizza Hut.

I am so excited to explore more in the next two weeks!