San Jose

We have spent the weekend in San Jose, Costa Rica. It is a modern city with paved roads, nice buses and lots of franchize fast food restarants. The think there are three McDonalds within a two block radius of our hotel. It feels very modern to me, especially in comparison to the other cities that I have visited in Central America. I look around and feel like I could easily be in downtown LA or San Francisco.
Rob came on Friday night and ALlegra left early Saturday morning. Rob and I spent yesterday walking around San Jose. There is certainly a lot to see! We did a lot of people watching and went exploring in the market. I bought a few necklaces made of shells that I am excited to show off at home.
We planned to spend today at Poas (volcano) National Park but we both woke up with upset stomachs so we spent most of the morning watching HBO and napping. After some Pepto we both felt better so we went to a small art museam in a very big city park.
I am amazed at how universal the human desire for beauty is. I have never heard of a culture that did not have some form of art or some type of appreciation for natural beauty. The art museam was small but extrodinary. The pieces were all by Ticas (the nickname for Costa Ricans). They addressed the usual themes: landscapes, portraits, social commentary, but in such a distinct way that I felt I could have guessed they were from central America even if I had seen them in New York, Paris or China. I have such deep respect for people who can form their thoughts, feelings, and cultural perspective into something physical that can be more or less understood by others. It seems to be a very universal thing- the struggle to find a way to tell our personal and communal stories. Art, music, dance, liturature, poetry... these all express human stories.
Today, even the park told a story. The people playing soccer, the pond with the fountain, the children flying kites and the men selling bags of peanuts. I was surrounded by happy people in a beautiful park on a sunny day. It was such a familiar experience for me, yet distinct because it did not happen in Land Park in Sacramento or the River Park in Redding or Lacy park in South Pasadena.. it happened in Costa Rica. How universal is the desire to play and laugh and smile in a pretty place!
In the museam and in the park, I felt very connected to a narrative greater than myself. In a foriegn country I understood the paint and images, I connected to the lives around me. I felt very little difference between others and myself. Shared narrative, collective unconcious... there is more alike than different.