Sunday, February 10, 2008











We went to the market in Escazu Centro on Saturday to buy produce. It closes at 1:00, and we got there at about 12:45, but we found that this worked to our advantage. It seems that vendors are a lot more willing to bargain right before they pack up their booths. We bought avocados, shallots, cilantro, parsley, cantaloupe, mangos, mini-mangos, sweet chilies, hot chilies, cucumbers, peaches, and nectarines - all for about 13 bucks.
We just relaxed for the rest of the day and cooked sea bass and mashed potatoes for dinner. We also made gallo pinto and cilantro dip to snack on throughout the week.
We stayed in because on Friday night we went to a trendy Mexican place called Tacotento. The food there is pretty good, but nothing like California Mexican food. It is located in a really trendy place called Plaza Itzkazu, and it is amazing to see how packed it gets with all of the hippest, wealthiest people from San Jose. Plaza Itzcazu has many different kinds of restaurants and bars, including Italian, Argentinian, Mexican, Japanese, Cuban, Spanish, Brazilian, and also an Outback Steakhouse and Hooters.
We are getting more accustomed to going out to eat later in the night. If you go out before 7:30 you will be just about the only one eating, and people-watching is half the fun of going out here.
Today (Sunday) we hung around the house and cleaned up a little. In the afternoon we went to World Gym, which we joined a couple of weeks ago. We really like World Gym because it has so much workout equipment, including many different kinds of cardio and weight machines, free weights, a nice pool, and much more. A lot of teachers and parents from our school work out there, so we can usually count on seeing some familiar faces when we go. If we go to the gym early in the afternoon it is not very crowded. However, later in the evening the gym becomes quite a scene, where men with huge muscles and women with augmented bodies go to socialize. Many of the women wear very fancy workout clothes, as well as a lot of makeup and big earrings. If we ever lived in a place like Beverly Hills or Montecito when we go back to the US, we would probably feel right at home.

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