After settling in at the Youth Hostel, I went out for the typical Costa Rican supper, "Comida Tipico" which consisted of rice, beans, cheese, tortillas along with soup and juice to wash it all down. I then returned to the hostel to watch the news and see the interview but everyone was watching Mel Gibson in the Patriot so I missed the news.

         In the morning, I made breakfast in the kitchen and sat at a real table to eat. I tried phoning the TV station to get a copy of the news broadcast with my interview and they suggested I fax a letter requesting the video. Since it was raining again, I spent the day working on my diary and composing a letter in Spanish to fax.

         The next morning, I found a combination laundromat, internet service and, while doing my laundry, I was able to compose and fax the letter to the TV station. I spent the days resting, catching up on my diary, doing the laundry and cleaning up the bike and camping equipment. I got caught up on some Canadian news on the Ottawa Citizen site on the internet. I found the people in San Jose more relaxed without much of a police presence compared to the other Central American countries.

         On Sunday, November 3, wandering around the downtown area, I found that the Christmas sales were in full bloom and Santa Clause was wandering through the stores. Although San Jose is described as being more modern and westernized than a lot of the other Central American cities, there was still obvious signs of poverty and crime. The transit system was more up-to-date however, using modern buses instead of old, run-down school buses. That night, I had supper with a Canadian and his two companions as well as a woman from Israel who had been travelling alone through Central America.

         I had planned on going to Escazu on the outskirts of San Jose where I was told I could get a panoramic view of the city. Before leaving, I decided to load a tape-cleaner cassette into the video camera. It became jammed in the camera and in trying to get it out, I broke a part inside the camera. I spent the rest of the day looking for tools to fix the camera and trying to do a make-shift repair job. By that time, it was too late to go to Escazu. The next day, after breakfast, I caught the bus heading to Escazu but, as it was going downhill all the way, I could not see how this was going to allow a panoramic view of the city. I got off the bus at a mall that I was told might have my video tapes but it was nowhere near Escazu. After exploring the mall, I returned to the Youth Hostel.

         The next day, I found the bus that went to Escazu and stayed on the bus until it went up into a mountainous area. I then started walking down a road that would lead to an area that would give a good view of the city. I passed through some poor neighborhoods and, after walking for what seemed like forever, I finally reached a vacant lot that gave a spectacular view of the city. I quickly shot some video and still photos then hurried back to the bus stop before it got dark and the wall of rain I could see on the other side of the valley reached Escazu.

         On November 7, I picked up some groceries and returned to the Youth Hostel to have a swim in the pool. I received an e-mail that my father was thinking of driving to Panama to pick me up. That night, I found yet another group of people in my room. This time it was a young couple with two children. Now, instead of the snoring, I had to listen to two crying kids all night.

         The next few days were spent doing some work on the bike. I installed a new voltage converter, had the wheels trued, installed new brake shoes and did a general clean up. I took the bike to a gas station to fill the tires and then went to a bike shop to get a new brake cable, new foam handle bar grips and a new pump but struck out on all three requests! The search for bike parts continued. I listed six bike stores that I had found in the telephone book and rode to all of them before finally finding a brake cable; but I had no luck with the grips.

         On the way back to the Youth Hostel, a woman came up to me and said that she had seen me on TV. She welcomed me to San Jose and wished me luck on the rest of my trip. I continued to wait for the TV station to call with a copy of the video but, after many days of waiting, I decided to phone the TV station. It sounded like she didn't remember the original phone call and had not received the fax so I explained it all again and we finally agreed that I would pick up the tape on my return trip as I could no longer stay in San Jose.