Do you know the way..........

Trip Start Jun 12, 2006
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Trip End Jul 01, 2007


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Flag of Costa Rica  ,
Saturday, September 9, 2006

Well I´ve been in San Jose all week learning salsa will my dance teacher Doris. Most days I´ve been having private dancing lessons so I´ve improved quickly and Doris even commented on how quickly I was picking up the steps. The biggest problem for me was learning to take the lead, my timing is actually quite good and It doesn´t take me long to pick up a new turn or step. For taking the lead sometimes I feel like I´m being too forceful but I slowly improved in pushing, twisting and pulling Doris around the dance floor.

The real test will be when I ask a random girl to dance and as you can imagine this can be quite intimidating especially when others have been dancing for years. Currently I have been practicing with other gringos who know a lot less than me and also make me look good. So I´m off to Miami tomorrow and maybe I´ll hit a salsa club.

So for the last week I have been staying at a place called Hostel Pangea near the center of San Jose. The city is a lot smaller than I expected and it only takes 10 mins to talk into Avenue Central and the main attractions Cathedral Metropolitana
Cathedral Metropolitana
 . The hostel is OK, but doesn't have a great atmosphere, so I would recommend it anyone.

On Monday I travelled to a nearby town Alujulia, I think thats how to spell it, to meet up with Natalie who I had met in La Fortuna. I did feel a little out of place as a new group of i-to-i volunteers were meeting up, but i fitted in and we all when to a local club. Yesterday I meet up with the group and at a villa in La Fortuna (again) which was lots of fun and of course included a couple of beverages! The volcano was more visible last night and little cloud was surrounding its peak, therefore you could see lava flowing down its cone, while I swigged on a beer in the villas pool.

While not dancing, I spent Thursday with East Londoner(sorry not Essex) Hannah one of the volunteers from i to i, we walked around the city checking out the theatre, which is really impressive. We also hit the local student bars in San Pedro, where I was learning to dance and a dance hall which looked like a Latino version of Pheonix nights.

On Wedsnesday I went to a jazz club with some guys from the hostel, again into San Pedro to meet up with kjersti and her Norweigen friends. I met kjersti in San Cristobel and we travelled in the large group down to Antigua in Guatemala. She is currently at uni studying Spanish, so it was great to see a friendly face, not to sure about the rock band though!

That leads me back to today, after 5 hours back from La Fortuna I´m just getting my stuff ready for the flight tomorrow to Miami and onto Ecaudor next week.
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