Mmmm torta chilena

Going a little stir crazy in Heredia, but my family comes in today and this week I will be getting out and about thank goodness. Had a decent weekend though nevertheless. Friday five of us headed to the Paseo de Flores Mall, which makes me feel like I'm back in the US, lots of American stores and food, air conditioning and very very clean. Saw Alice in Wonderland 3D with subtitles which meant we got to enjoy the original English :) Not an amazing film, but Tim Burton's stuff is always interesting and fun to watch and it was the first time I've been in a movie theater since I got here, mostly just been relying on what movies I can find on the internet as my nightly entertainment. Going to the mall also meant an obligatory stop by Rice n' Smile my favorite rice pudding stand ever, had tiramisu flavor this time and enjoyed it immensely. Saturday was a fun contrast of jungle and city: three of us set out mid-morning for some hiking at Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo (such a difficult name to pronounce by the way), which meant of course taking a bus out of San Jose, to go anywhere in Costa Rica you have to leave out of San Jose. It was only an hour ride to the park, and the views there were stunning, we were winding through mountains with vistas of misty jungle out the window. Our hike didn't take too long, so we were back in San Jose by mid-afternoon and since none of us had anything better to do we decided to do a bit of wandering or traversing ( apparently the Spanish word for wandering is traversar, which I quite like). After only twenty minutes of traversing we found a huge festival- Festival de Transarete. There were dance performances, boxing, book stands, and live music. It was luverly. The live music was just starting up when we found the main part of the festival in Parque Morazan. A well placed coffee shop gave us a chance to refresh, I had my normal cafe con leche and a torta chilena. My friend recommended it, describing it as layers of giant cookies with frosting between each layer, that having been allowed to sit for some time has sort of gelled into a cake. It was amazingly delicious, and I'll be keeping my eye open for it in the future. Anyway we enjoyed the live music, one band only sang classic rock English hits so were treated to Stand by Me and Knock'in on Heaven's Door, but that was followed with some faster-paced Spanish rock. Finished out the evening with a trip to the cheapest soda (essentially diner) that I know of in San Jose. All together a good day, and sunday was pretty peaceful with the afternoon spent at the pool. I almost feel guilty having so much free time....