I know the city very well, and I feel like a true urban adventurer!
To be honest, it is hard to adjust to getting around in a brand new place. I miss my bike and my car a lot, and being able to get where I want to go quickly. Most days, however, I feel like a Costa Rican, and I navigate the city with confidence.
Figuring out how the buses work here can be frusturating too. The buses do not run on a strict schedule or have their routes posted anywhere. You have to ask around to learn how to get from place to place. It's like a solving a puzzle! Sometimes the buses are so full that you have to stand up, squished in between strangers.
Another frusturating thing about public buses is they don't wait for anyone. One time my friends and I bought tickets to return home from the beach on the bus. We showed up two minutes early, but the bus was already long gone! I was pretty frusturated and dissapointed. It is hard getting around on your own without adults to help, and you can feel pretty alone at times. Needless to say, I make sure I'm extra early for the bus now!
Why are the roads so small here? How come there's no streetcards, train or underground subway system like in other big cities? For a long time, San José was filled with coffee plantations and farmers, not a city at all! Then in the 1980s, everything was built super fast. No one was thinking about making wide streets for lots of cars, or putting in a network of public transportation.
