COSTA RICA 2023

DAY 2 – HEREDIA MARKETS

Today was set to be an exciting day. Students had their first night in their Costa Rican homes and adjusted to a new room, new bed and new dinner menu. By all accounts, everyone enjoyed their first night and are looking forward to the rest of the time here.

After our first breakfast with our host families, we gathered at the Church – our daily meeting spot, and gathered on the bus to head to La Ferria – or the FARMER’S MARKET.

Once there, 10 minutes away, we saw what seemed like hundreds of vendors who drove for hours from various parts of the country to sell their produce. Many fruit including mangoes, guavas, avocados, oranges, watermelon, sugar cane, and other odd fruit we had never seen before were available for a small fee. One hand of bananas was $1.

Mr. Deane divided students into two groups and they had a task – a Scavenger Hunt to spend no more than 5000 Colones (which is $10) on a list of items they had to ask for in Spanish to the vendors. Some were a little difficult and they had to manage their money before they went broke. Students returned with a lot of items and learned Spanish at the same time.

One interesting fruit at the Farmer’s Market looked like a passion fruit which was purple outside, but inside had the texture of a dilly (see photo).

Another looked like a passion fruit but it was yellow outside and inside looked just like passion fruit seeds (see photo). 

Both were delicious.

After  the Farmer’s Market, we headed to the Park of Los Angeles.

Our tour guide, Diego showed us around, told us about the culture and history of Costa Rica and led us into the church nearby.

Then it was on to the real Market in Heredia where again we saw tons of fruit and vegetables along with any kind of meat you could think of – raw and available for sale. 

We had the full experience and smells of this market! We also had lunch in the same place from a very local restaurant where again Casado was available along with Arroz con Pollo, sandwiches, empanadas, tamales and more along with fresh local fruit drinks.

DAY TWO COMPLETE, tomorrow is the WATERFALL!