Big City Jitters

Since I've arrived in Costa Rica, there have been two main emotions running through me; excitement and fear. Excitement because, HELLO! I'M IN COSTA RICA! and it's super exciting. There are so many people and so many things to do and places to eat. I feel like even if I were to stay in this beautiful city of San Pedro/San Jose for all three of my weeks I would not get to see even a fraction of everything I want to see. Alas, I only get until tomorrow when I am to be shipped off to the coast to do my turtle work, which I'm sure will be a whole different experience.  I'm going to miss out on tons of places that I want to go see and eat and drink and just experience Costa Riccan city life.

But there is also the fear.  Earlier today, I was very thirsty, but I didn't have any colones to buy a water bottle. I looked up online where a bank was, and it was only around the corner from the Maximo Nivel office where I'm hanging out all day. Yet, I was scared out of my wits to walk even that far by myself to change some money. So I put up with my thirst until my roomies got out of their orientation and they came with me. I found out about 20 minutes later that I could have simply asked at the desk at Maximo and they would change some money for me which made me feel pretty stupid. But the fear. I've never before been in a place where I didn't feel comfortable at least walking down the block by myself. I'm sure I'm just paranoid, but it seems as though every person who looks at me just knows that I'm not local. I'm afraid someone is going to come up and rip my backpack off and take off down the street. Maybe it's just that I'm not used to big cities, or maybe it's the fact that I understand about 1 out of every 30 words I hear, but something just makes me uncomfortable. Possibly the driving.

Oh the driving... It is my opinion that every driver on the streets of Costa Rica operates on the following mentality:
speed limit?...pshh
lanes?....pshh
pedestrians?...pshh 
stop signs?...pshh
stop lights?...meh, ok, but I'm going to get as close to the car in front of me as I can so I can zoom off as soon as the light turns green.
It is extremely terrifying. This morning on the bus, I could have sworn we were going to hit something about every 20 feet or so. The only thing I can say it that I give props to anyone brave enough to drive in Costa Rica, and I tip my hat to all the locals who somehow manage to drive like a maniac and never hit anything.