Transportation

In Costa Rica, the way I get from place to place is different than that in the US. For example, por ejemplo: I have my driver's license in the US, and I am able to drive anywhere. Here in Costa Rica, I am not allowed to drive because of AFS rules, and I don't know if I would really want to drive here. But that is just one example. I usually get to the places I need either by walking, taking the bus, or by taxi.
I live in San Juan, Puriscal, which is pretty much in a "valley" I guess you could say. So I can't exactly walk to school because that would take about an hour and an half walk up some really big hills, but I can walk to the local places in San Juan. I also walk everywhere in Santiago, the central town in Puriscal where I go to school. Once I am here I walk to local tiendas, pulperias, panaderias, and many more.
To get to school I ride the bus. I walk down my hill down to the pulperia and wait for my 6:30 bus to take me to school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Fridays I take the bus at 11:00 because I don't have school in the mornings. The bus is usually a 20 minute ride, and it really fills up in the mornings. I'm talking about people hanging out of the bus packed-it gets intense sometimes!! I also take the bus to San Jose, but this is a much nicer bus that holds more people. And on these buses they only allow people to sit, so it isn't that crowded and everyone has their own comfortable seat-imagine a tour bus that takes people around Washington D.C. It takes about 40 minutes to an hour to get to San Jose depending on where you want to go.
And finally there are taxis!! I only take taxis when I need to get to Santiago and there is no bus, or to get home when the buses have stopped running. They cost about 2 mil to get to Santiago from my house, which is about $4. Now you may think this is good, so did I when I first got here, but after living here for this long, I have found out it is actually pretty expensive! So I try and take the bus as much as possible so I don't have to spend my money. But, when taking a taxi, know what is a real taxi and what is a "fake taxi". Here, people stand next to their cars and yell, "Taxi, taxi, car, car, necesito un carro?" To tell if it is a real taxi, you make sure the car is red and it has a taxi sign above it. Now you may say, "uhhh duhh that's pretty obvious how could you get that mixed up with a different car?" But when I first came here my family took "fake taxis" because they knew the drivers, and I thought they were just taking taxis, so when I came home in one of these cars, my family flipped out and told me what to look out for. It is can be very dangerous, so now I make sure I am careful!
One thing here that is very different are the roads. Some are paved, but some have a lot of pot-holes and are rocky. While on these roads, it can be very dangerous to drive fast, and all the drivers know exactly where to drive to avoid these obstacles. Also, no one wears seat belts-no one. Which is really dangerous because in the US its "click it or ticket" and here it's "PURA VIDA!!" One day I was driving in a car with my brother to Santiago, and he told me to sit in front because I was getting out first. My first instinct was to reach back and grab my seat belt, but there was none, there was nothing there! And of course Rafa saw me do this and started laughing and making fun of me! But how was I suppose to know!!
So this is how I get around. Some families own cars, and they are able to drive to the beach, or into town, or wherever they want to go. My father is thinking about renting a car soon for this year, so we will see how that works out! Getting from place to place here is quite simple, and so far pretty easy. Let's just hope it stays that way!!