Buen Día! Today we started out with breakfast with our host family and then off to the train station as we were heading into San Jose for a walking tour of the City. San Jose is the capital of the country and a port city for many of the products that we are studying such as coffee and bananas. The train was fun and allowed for a new cultural emersion experience. We did have some difficulty locating the station as Costa Rica doesn’t really use addresses. This makes it very hard to figure out where you are going. You have to know the area well or really pay attention to your surroundings in order to figure out where to go as all directions are based upon landmarks. I think the system slightly holds San Jose back because it would just make the logistics of traffic smoother and allow people to have exact information on where things are located. I don’t think it needs to be changed tomorrow because no harm is being done and it is kind of fun to feel like a local and learn the way around based upon what is around you.

Once we got to San Jose we walked around to the Parque Nacional and learned about the war hero Santa Maria and his influence on Costa Rica. We got to see the Museo Nacional full of beautiful butterflies and pre-Colombian artifacts. As we were walking through the city it was really interesting to the see how what we have been studying has affected the country.

The coffee and banana trade had a large influence on San Jose as those who were successful in those industries were the cities elite. They were what we would consider our “guilded age tycoons”. Since they viewed themselves so highly they wanted a form of entertainment. They wanted actors to come and perform for them but since there wasn’t a place for “respectable” actors to perform at in Costa Rica, they refused. The elite of San Jose then decided to start construction of the Teatro Nacional. They taxed an additional 5 colones to those that bought coffee in order for it to be set aside for the building of the theater. Inside the theater we see a nod to both the industries responsible for the funding as the 5 colones bill, which is out of rotation, is painted on the ceiling. The bill portrays merchants at the ports of San Jose getting both coffee and bananas ready to be put on ships for export. This theater has a had a large impact on not only the music and art scene of Costa Rica but also the political and social. Presidents of the Americas gathered in the theater in the 80’s when Regan was president and it was even used for the quinceras of the elites daughters. The theater continues to run today and is a beautiful location in San Jose. Many continue to preserve what those of the coffee and banana elite started.

Around the same time one of the United States greatest tycoons, Andrew Carnegie of our very own Pittsburgh Pennsylvania made his mark in San Jose,Costa Rica. Carnegie was responsible for donating money to build a court house in San Jose. Even when this court house was knocked down after an earthquake Carnegie donated again for the rebuilding. It was really interesting to see a connection to the city that we all are a part of. This tour was very fascinating and allowed me to see a different side of both Costa Rica and the tropical agricultural industries.

Today was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to explore Costa Rica for only a few more days. Adios!