Falling in Love with the City!

 Enamórate de tu Ciudad

This is my second Saturday going consecutively to the activities being offered at the this corridor of cultural activities. There are activities for all ages and interests. They take place at the main parks from the capital, España park, Jadín de Paz park (I did not know the name I just knew it as the park in front of the metal school which is a pink colored building that is made out of metal, it's known as the Escuela Metálica/Metal School), Morazán park, La Merced park. This last one is located far from the others which actually come one after the other.

Parque España

As I  walk home after spending 2 hours hula hopping, I feel happy, tire and happy. At 9 am, I did the yoga class at España park, and then moved to the hula hopping area at 10 am in the Jadín de Paz park. For the yoga class, you have to bring your own mat, and for the hula hooping class, you just go and take one of the many colorful hula hoops available and start dancing to the rhythm of the electric beat played by the live djs. There were also African, Hip hop, Break dance classes, Parkour lessons, table games, local products exhibitions, an exchange market, and some many other things to discover. The activities for each Saturday can be found at the Enamorate de tu ciudad Facebook page Here.

As a foreigner if you want to spend some days in San José, make sure that one of those days is a Saturday since this is a most to see activity, all the classes and workshops are free and you can also have the chance to buy souvenirs that are  different and unique.

What I loved the most? Seeing a 4 year old learning how to hula hoop and it was mainly the fact that I saw so many parents sharing with their children at this community gathering where you can play, laugh, learn, share with people and enjoy the city. I do feel as if I were falling in love with the city, there are certain things about San José that definitely can be much better but there are also these other great experiences that makes me love to spend time in Chepe.

How would you describe Chepe?

How would you describe Chepe centro (San José downtown)?

My answer will be "It depends..." It depends of which area of San José you are referring to, and on what time of the year or day. Overall I must say that San Jose downtown is a crooked city where you can bump with nice sights and places. It is a town made up of crooked sidewalls, beautiful old buildings, bums on almost every corner, where walking  becomes an obstacle race  where you have to jump over pees (if you see a wet line across the sidewalk, trust me it'snot water so just jump over it). As a Costa Rican, I'm used to these sights, it is normal for me a landscape of rusty zincs, and imperfectly alined houses. I have grown to love this view, it's what we have at the end. I'm  not proud of it  but I have learned to live with this and enjoy the positive and attractive that the city has to offer which is what I want this blog to be about.

San Jose is an interesting city to visit if you know exactly where to go and when to go. The neighborhoods close to Paque Morazón and Parque España and Barrio Amón are some of the areas that I consider as the nicest parts of San José. With cultural spaces such as "Enamórate de tu Ciudad" (Fall in love with the City) on Saturdays, San José downtown is turning into the place where you want to go to enjoy yourself.

My idea is to keep a record of those places and activities that make San Jose an atractive city to visit. I would like to include as well insights from other places besides San Jose. The goal is to grow through the experience while being able to provide useful knowledge.