A View of Tokyo

We filled our arms with beer and juice and took the elevator to the top of Mayumi's building. Our tour book recommended several places for a good view of Tokyo - from where I was standing, this one was hard to beat.

We were shocked to be able to see Tokyo Tower (think: Japan's Eiffel Tower) from the little rooftop garden. Laura's sharp eyes also picked out two Ferris Wheels, and Rainbow Bridge, which Mayumi hadn't realized she could see before.

We tasted Japanese beer, saw the electric energy of Tokyo shining in the night, listened to the bugs hum and buzz in the bushes around us. And I wondered; those poor, lost bugs - how did they get here? How did we?

- Journal, 07/17/09

Photo: Tokyo by night, as seen from a rooftop in Toranomon.

La Heredia

Heredia was much like San Jose. Exteriors were dirty concrete and rusted metal, with the junctures between the two often neglected. To say there was no insulation would be an understatement – a Missouri rainstorm would whip in through every crack.

We were assigned a scavenger hunt in the Mercado. They divided us into groups to look for items from a list, which we were forbidden to show anyone - we were meant to ask people where we could buy things and how they were used. All of our things (with one exception) turned out to be herbs and spices, so we found ourselves bothering the same people again and again.

A group of exhausted high schoolers need some sort of authority figure to maintain organization, so when it came time to eat lunch, in particular, there were arguments. For about half an hour we bickered over where to eat, as half the group wanted cheap, authentic food – the kind most prevalent in the Mercado itself, while the other half couldn’t be persuaded to go anywhere near the street vendors.

The group finally split and I stayed with the Mercado group. The little bar we ate at probably left us more exposed to thieves and pickpockets than any other place we went to on the trip, but I wasn’t at all worried about the food. They prepared it right in front of us, and meat and cheese and cilantro smells wafted over the dirty glass that separated the kitchen from the counter. My first full and real Costa Rican meal - Pollo con Gallo Pinto - was so delicious that I even ordered a cheese tortilla to finish it off.

- Journal, 06/06/08

Photo: The Mercado of Heredia.