The real Costa Rica...

The longer I spend in Quepos/Manuel Antonio, the more I realize that it is quite an armpit of a place. Quepos is filled with drug addicts. It is so sketchy to walk around at night. And even the taxis might rob you (moreso the pirate taxis).

Saturday, I am off to Alajuela, a town outside of San Jose. I think I am going to do tours around there for the few days that I'm there. I don't have a guidebook, and really, the longer I stay in Costa Rica, the longer I realize that it is not the paradise that everyone envisions. Hard drugs are rampant as is crime.

One of our classmates is missing right now. He went to a bar with a few other classmates, then went to a casino afterwards last night. His host family called up here saying that he hadn't come home last night. It doesn't sound good. He is the type of person to at least drop by the school and say hi (he was done with his coursework yesterday). We are all pretty worried...

Something you won't hear me say very often...I am ready to go home...