El Museo de los Niños

Today we had the morning free so we were able to sleep in a little bit later which was nice. We decided that since we had most of the day free until at least 4 that we would check out the children’s museum. It was basically downtown but everyone said that it wasn’t safe to walk from downtown to the museum because the neighborhood isn’t the best. The children’s museum sits on top of this very large hill and actually is in the building that once was the home to the national prison of San Jose. The prison closed down in 1978 and since then the people have restored it and turned it into a learning place for children. I think that it is ironic that where once prisoners who were locked up for many different things is now a place for children that is educational and fun. Who would have thought that it would have become a place for children? The museum reminds me a lot of Edventure which is a huge amazing kids museum in Columbia. It is actually enjoyed by all ages. Or at least it brings out the child out in adults and us bigger kids. It was so interesting to see an educational place that has things such as the human body, the solar system, the weather, the progression of time and how houses have changed reading, and information on the rainforest and even music is all in Spanish. I took so many pictures because all the rooms were so bright and colorful! It wasn’t very crowded but we did arrive at a good time because as we were leaving, a huge group of school kids had just arrived! I thought that it was well worth the two dollars that we spent to go somewhere new and prevalent to the kids of Costa Rica. The taxi driver that took us back to the ISA office made me a little angry partially because he basically ripped us off and made us pay twice as much and secondly because he tried to act very pleasant and nice and wanted to have a conversation but then pull out the oh well you owe more money card when we arrived. Another thing was that I usually get stuck with having to pay more than everyone else because they all decide to jump out of the taxi before it has been taken care of. There are some things that just boggle my mind about people. That is probably another blog all in itself. I am looking forward to having a car and not having to worry about taking a bus or a taxi every time I want to go somewhere. On the flipside, Emma has been willing to let Emily and I stay the night before we have to catch our flight at her house. She has been so kind and has gone out of her way to make sure that we have been comfortable and feel like we are a part of her family. She just wants us to feel like her home is our home too. It took me a few minutes to make sure she understood what I asked her and that I made sense but she said she understood so it all has worked out just fine. Were going back to the jazz café tonight to listen to a jazz trio; we went there and it turned out to be somewhat crowded. There was a guy with a very large xylophone, a piano player, a bass player a drummer, and every couple of songs a man would get up to join them and sing a few songs. It was very relaxing and in fact made me very sleepy. We ended up leaving early since we decided to make a day trip to Puntarenas. Hasta pronto...