In as little as two months riding the bus in the metro area will become a little less sloppy and will start to resemble other metro area technologies that expats and tourists are familiar with. Eight inter-city bus lines will begin to accept payment via a chip on your phone (TAG) or an electronic card. 

Many do not realize that each route here is owned by a different company. This makes it more difficult for one central governing body to distribute all route information and maintain well-marked bus stops, which is the biggest problem for visitors, 'how the hell do I find the bus stops or get anywhere in SJO on public transport!' 

While there won't be a decent 'bus map' coming out anytime soon, this new payment method will be a foundation-laying collaboration between the Santa Ana, Escazú, Moravia, Curridabat, Tres Ríos, barrio Luján, Sabana-Cementerio and Estadio bus routes. 

Users can obtain the chip or card for free in a Banco Nacional or pulperias located near the bus stops. A minimum charge of 6.000 is required for either, and the route price will be deducted each time you board one of these buses. This will help riders more easily track their transport expenditures, and help the drivers move more quickly without having to count change at each stop, not to mention the extra security for drivers not having as much cash on the bus. 

This product has already been tested over two years, most specifically with the 'seniors' card currently accepted on buses by the product developer Corporación de Investigación Electrónica. The company is also trying to work with the cell phone companies to reach an agreement to provide extra free minutes or some kind of incentive to users with the cell phone chip. 

There are many nuances that have made San Jose feel like such an 'other world' experience for visitors and I would say paying with cash and even receiving exact change on the buses is one. With this change we'll see better efficiencies but a little part of a more simple (yet somehow more complicated) way of life will disappear. Can I be happy and sad about this? If you want specific directions on how to travel by bus in San Jose please contact our concierge staff. 

I hope you got in your rest during winter and the holiday season because this is the time of year to come out and play and there is no rest for the weary as back-to-back festivals and cultural events carry us through to Semana Santa. 

Here's a quick summary of what's to come in the next few weeks,we'll be covering some of these in more detail soon. 

FILM - Jan. 28 - Final film in Chaplin series at Teatro Variedades_, EL GRAN DICTADOR (The Great Dictator) 1940. 

THEATER - The English-speaking Little Theatre Group will kick off the 2013 season with a Cabaret Night, theater and musical performances will be the highlight of this Jam at the Bar. 7:30 on Feb. 8, 2.500 entrance fee at Sala Garbo.  

ROCK - Festival del Rock en el Farolito, 11a - 8p Feb. 16 and 17. This is a free concert featuring prominent Costa Rican rock bands in Parque Morazan. Full line-up schedules will appear on the facebook page. 

ELECTRONIC - ChepeJoven is an annual event that opens up international electronic music for free to Costa Ricans while closing Paseo Colon for a Sun. As the name implies, this will be an event mostly attended by teenagers and then electronic fans of all ages. Hosted also on Feb. 17 you can listen to music ALL DAY downtown. This festival runs 8a - 3p. 
DJs spinning include:
 
- Jeff Brenes
- Monik Zdan
- Hector Moran (El Salvador) 
- Erik Prestinary 
- ¿?
- Lawrence Casal 
- Huba&Silica

INNOVATION - TEDxPuraVida is an independently organized event with the same spirit of 'ideas worth sharing'. Presentations are in Spanish but that's a good opportunity to practice and a great chance to meet some of the nation's thought leaders. Tickets are $150, the event will be hosted at the Children's Museum. A full schedule of presenters is available. 

To explore of the exciting places and activities in San Jose, Costa Rica Book a City Tour.

Downtown Yoga is a special place situated in the heart of San Jose, 1/2 block west of the SW corner of Parque Nacional. 

Open for 2 years, the studio aims to make yoga more accessible to the people living and working in and around San Jose, Costa Rica. 

Future plans include providing yoga in the low-income neighborhoods of the city and implementing a community garden with bicycle parking. 

The primary group of students are Costa Rican but because the management and teachers speak English, and there are classes everyday it's a great stop for travelers looking to relax as they wonder around the country. 

The best part is that visitors can feel right at home immediately being introduced to fellow students and teachers. To read more about the studio visit its Yoga in English page. 

Drop-in classes are $10, call 6050-1952 to reserve your space. 

After living in Costa Rica for four years, I've had plenty of opportunities to head to the festival in Zapote that occurs each year over Christmas and New Year, and even more chances to catch a bullfight in any part of the country. But, I had never seen either, until last weekend. 

In Costa Rica, we have a word for redneck - POLO. And, despite my country girl roots, I had deduced from the news and various Tico friends, that the Zapote festivals were too polo for me to attend. On Saturday however, my inner country child came out and we decided to head to Zapote with some other expat girlfriends to see just how Tico redneck the festivals really were. 

After a 10 minute cab ride from downtown, we found ourselves wondering down a street lined with small bars full of cozy Christmas lights. We were hungry and on a mission to get a nice Chifrijo so we ducked into one of these welcoming establishments and ordered a round of cervezas. As the waitress informed us there was no Chifrijo, we frowned and then settled on patacones thinking we would find chifrijo somewhere else. 

As we reentered the street full of people we started to notice the ambiance. It was very pleasant. The municipality just reported that they spent 75% more on the festival than the year before, but I think it paid off. I came expecting trash everywhere, drunk people falling on each other, dirt in the air and rides that would be falling apart. Instead, we immediately noticed how orderly it all was despite the dizzying lights from the very safe looking rides, music floating from different tents and varied aromas of carnival food. 

We made our way between different food stands, never finding chifrijo but plenty of options for meat-on-a-stick, fried chicken, cantonese rice, chop suey, churros and candied apples. We ate and drank while taking in different cumbia/salsa shows amidst karaoke performances. Two of us decided to brave the swings, which called to us from its height, even after a few beers and food. We went screaming as we rose above all the other rides and soon were being thrust in 360 degrees with beautiful night views of the city. The ride lasted about 30 seconds more than we would have liked, but at least we kept our stomachs grounded! 

To finish off the night we decided to check out the main event, the bull fights. The Costa Rica style of fighting is quite different than you might imagine. Instead of several phases using different weapons to take down the bull as done in Spain, Ticos like to hop in the ring, about 100 at a time with 1 bull and try to get as injured as possible. 

This is easier for animal rights groups to watch and support, and matches with the attitude of Costa Ricans. However, after watching for about 10 minutes I decided personally it was still too much. The bull is in a state of distress while having to be defensive, and whether that's because it is being stabbed or simply provoked, I see it as unnecessary.  It was an interesting experience but I'll be sticking to the rest of the very fun fair activities in the future. 

To find out about other ways to explore San José see our city tour options.