A Little Q&A with Bobbs

Greetings to everyone back in the states. Let me be the first to say that I miss all of you but I don't plan on coming back. OK, I'll come back, but Costa Rica is going to be in my future plans again. We had a very long day today of interviews around San Jose. We overcame caffeine withdraws, long walks on the hot suburban streets, and very strenuous yet beneficial interviews. As I am typing this, I am sneaking back and forth from Salsa lessons, mainly getting incriminating footage of my teammates on the adventure (also the song I am currently listening to) of what I'd like to call the Costa Rican Awesomeness Tour, 2006.

So I have noticed a lot of questions appearing in peoples comments, all of which I am enjoying, I thought it would be nice for one of us to take the time to answer these.

Justin asks, "Are you able to upload pictures on your blogs?"

Well Justin, yes we are and I'll be doing that later on tonight most likely. Also to note, Justin, I got you a pen from the hostel, just like you asked.


Brit's mom, KC, has two questions with one relating question for us. "How is the money different there? Do they take dollars or do you have to change your money into theirs? Is San Jose like a small town, a village or a main city?"


The money here is called colones. I actually have a humerus story about the exchange that took place at the bank today. Imagine a line for getting on a Kennywood line. That's how long it was! Francis and I decided it would be best to just get it done in small spurts back at the hostel. We sat down and were just looking around when an older man steps into the bank. The security guard did a hand held metal detector check on him. He got through and the guy started flipping out because the guard doesn't check underneath peoples arm pits.
It gets better...

He then skips everyone in line and just walks up to the counter! Francis and I were astonished by how bold this guy was. After he is done, he does a little more flipping out then walks out. As he walked out he picked up his cigar that he left on the ground. You are probably all thinking that I am insane. Well you had to have been there, but you weren't. muahaha<-- evil little laugh

San Jose is the capitol of Costa Rica. Its brusselling with activity everywhere. The drivers are insane and the pot holes are almost as bad as they are in Pittsburgh!


Doc writes: "How do they perceive the U.S.A.? What is the form of local government? What is on the minds of the locals? How do people make a living? Is it a religious society? What products are imported? What are exported? Have you visited a school? What is the educational model?
and finally;
Is Felicia whining?"

Well Doctor Wertheimer, I really glad that you asked that first question. They love the true citizens who understand how things work on all levels. They love the hard workers, the teachers, the engineers, the doctors; but they perceive the government Representatives as idiosyncratic bureaucrats who all have an agenda which leads back to big business. This is what we've gotten from all 3 interviewees we had today.

When talking to locals, our biggest topic is the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA for short). Most of them are against this because it only benefits those within the upperclass and the big business of the U.S. This is an extremely big deal because Costa Rica is the only nation within Central America to not ratify CAFTA. I am not going to give my personal bias into this mainly because I dint want to offend the non-liberals.

It is just like the states down here in the sense of making a living. People can make a living doing almost anything. Its all up to the ambition of the person.


Costa Rica is not as religious as I had expected. It is in a sense more religious then the U.S. but not as much as other Hispanic countries.

Imports and Exports. This another topic we've been covering a lot in our interviews. Costa Rica's main export is coffee as well as produce. This brings in about $7 billion a year. On the other hand, the imports are around $9.2 billion a year, about 54% of that is from the U.S. alone. To make up for the deficit, Costa Rica gains about $2 billion from tourism alone.

We've walked past quite a few schools but we haven't visited any. That won't be until later on in the trip. One observation I made was that every student wears a uniform, no matter what level.

Finally, Felicia is wining, but that is to be expected. She also enjoys going up to strangers and making friends with them, especially in the Charlotte airport.


Well kids, that's it for this time. Hasta Luego.

---Bobbs