After a good nights rest, we headed out to downtown San Jose bright and early! 
Our first stop downtown was at a local market. It was very similar to the one that we walked through in Cartago yesterday! The smell of fish still made me want to puke. Dr. Lanier bought all of the girls a sun flower from a local market! They were so pretty! We were able to see a theater where many plays are performed. It was also where Barack Obama was when he came to Costa Rica last week. After we saw the theater, we stopped to use the restroom at a McDonald's. When we were going to leave, we thought we had everyone. We continued walking down the streets of San Jose towards the office where congress meets. After a few blocks, we realized that we were missing Liz! We had forgotten her at the McDonald's! I have to give the girl props. She was SO calm. If I would have been left behind, I guarantee you I would have been in tears. After we found our Lizzard, we headed towards congress. We were able to learn about the Costa Rican government. They have a democracy just like us. The Costa Rican Congress has 57 members and 22 of them are women. Their congressmen and women cannot be re-elected for multiple terms. To run to be a member of congress you must be older than 21, be a born Costa Rican or a naturalized citizen for more than 10 years, and most importantly have no criminal record! We also learned that San Jose has 21 of the 57 members of congress. One interesting thing that I learned it that Costa Rica is officially a Catholic country. This was very surprising to me that the government would choose one specific religion. While we were visiting congress, we were able to meet a congressman who served as the president of congress and is in the running to be the president of Costa Rica! They will find out within the next month if he wins! After visiting congress, we headed off to have lunch at a souvenirs shop outside of San Jose! After a little souvenirs shopping, we toured a factory where the beads for necklaces, bracelets, and other items were made from wood. We were able to see how the beads were sanded down with different types of sandpaper to get the finished product. We also got to see how all of the products were made by factory workers. The things that these people were making were absolutely beautiful. After touring the factory, we headed off to tour the bubble gum factory in San Jose. This was by far one of the most interesting things I have seen. I felt like I was in the show "How It's Made" on the Food Network channel! It smelt like a huge piece of bubble gum when we were inside. The smell was so strong! We were able to see the whole process of how the bubble gum was made. The coolest part to me was how they colored the pieces for specific orders, such as the red, green, and yellow pieces of gum that were going to Jamaica! They even let us have some gum to taste! After the bubble gum factory tour, we came back to the hotel to hear a lecture on medical tourism, which has become extremely popular in Costa Rica. Medical tourism allows individuals to come to Costa Rica and receive medical care for much cheaper than it would cost for them to have the procedure done in their country. The doctors in this field of work have three additional years of schooling compared to those from the United States! After our lecture, we headed off to have supper on top of the mountain overlooking San Jose! The sight was breathtaking! There were so many lights and I couldn't believe that San Jose had that many lights. Today was another great day!
Learning the lingo... Rapido means fast!
My sunflower and my fellow photo bombers!
This is the congressman who spoke to us and who will be running for the president of Costa Rica!
This is where the bubble gum is dyed in the factory!
Our view of San Jose from the resturant on top of the mountain!
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