San Jose - The city with two faces

No, San Jose hasn't stabbed us in the back, like a bad friend, but it does give visitors (at least us) mixed feelings. Whether you like the city, or not, will greatly depend on where you land in it and how you embrace the concept of Pura Vida. (Pure Life.) This is a unique Costa Rican sentiment that somehow embraces all facets of life, be they good, bad or otherwise. It seems that the feeling is somewhere between joy and embracing the chaos and pain that life has to offer. San Jose is a perfect reflection of this: it's got both lovely and run down neighbourhoods. Some places are impeccable and others rubbish laden. We can't quite pin down a sense of it.

La Sabana park in the sunshine

Can't have a city without a football stadium

Las Escalantes district

Art Deco building with crazy paint job

Having spoken with a local man, he seems to feel the exact same way. Warner both loves and hates the city at the same time. I'm starting to guess that no one really knows what San Jose is or where it's going. I'll say this, the city seems to be getting better. There are a lot of improvements going on; street repaving, houses being cleaned up and renovated, cranes are sprinkled across the skyline etc. There are thriving neighbourhoods with heaps of cute cafes and restaurants: San Pedro, Las Escalantes, Rohrmoser, Escazu and Amon.

Train station built in 1902!

Flowers in a park dedicated to the
French Uprising

Street art installation

Doggy Road (ha!)

Then there are the middle of the road neighbourhoods that could use a little love, but seem to have their fair share of those that love it there. I mean, the tax base can't be that large, what with just of 5 million people in the entire country, so things like road maintenance and the upkeep of public spaces must be challenging. I go back to the concept of Pura Vida, no matter what the mess is it could always be worse, so let's not worry about it. For me, it creates a bit of apathy. Pile of garbage on the corner? Pura vida! Someone threw more trash on it? Pura vida! It's a great way to let go of the concept of control (especially in situations where you really don't have any), but it seems to encourage the "not my problem" mentality as well. This is strictly my opinion and could well be misguided. I can only go by what I've experienced.

Cute little houses

More little house with crazy wires above

Ron checking out the sculptures in Parque Sabana

They're carved out of dead trees

There's a general bird theme

This one has an extra creepy face, too.

I confess to struggling with editing out the "ugly" of San Jose. You don't see pictures of the broken statues, decrepit and neglected park benches and heaps of litter in certain areas, but I don't think it's fair, to do to San Jose, what we don't do anywhere else we go. (Every place has its secret embarrassments, don't they?) While San Jose may not be for everyone, we've found it interesting so far and are enjoying the great (if expensive) food options.

If you're planning to visit bring lots of sunscreen, bug spray and a sense of pura vida.