Looking for an Apt / Shootout

9:00 and I just got back from my first one on one class at my new job. The class went well and my student was very eager to learn. My new student Hector, is a manger at Juan Santa Maria Airport. We had a really interesting conversation about aviation in Costa Rica, and he explained a dispute over the funding of a new airport.

This morning Allie and I looked at an apartment in Santa Anna, a western suburb of San Jose. The apartment was a furnished 2 bedroom with cable, Internet and a pool for 500 a month. The complex was very nice, clean and had a beautiful backdrop with mountains less than a mile away. However the apartment was too far away from grocery stores and seemed more like a place people would retire to. The landlord mentioned the tenants were mostly old people, and while looking at the apartment I noticed the old person smell coming from the apartment next door. We decided to pass on the apartment and keep looking.

The reason we are looking for a new apartment is due to recent criminal activities around our apartment complex. A few weeks ago one of our neighbors was robbed at gun point. This Monday while I was at work robbers attempted to rob two more tenants in front of our apartment building. At my apartment building there are two gates that you have two enter. For each gate you need a security code and a key. The tenants were able to get in to both gates before the robbers were able to rob them. The thieves pointed the guns at the kids demanding their laptops which they weren't even carrying. A security who heard the altercation came down the block and shot off his gun to scare the thieves however they fired back at the guard. The police came and caught got one of the robbers and no one was hurt. Ever since than my landlord has had a security guard outside of our apartment every night, and has changed the locks. This makes me feel a little better but I still think an apartment full of gringos is not the safest place to live. Even though San Pedro is suppose to be relatively safe I think our apartment is a target for robbers. However not to stress the only things I ever carry around is bus fare and books so I would care less if someone took my school books and 500 colones. Along with the gates and electric fences their are little huts every couple of blocks. Communities hire security guards to sit in the huts and make sure everything is safe. Their is one of these huts around the block from us and that is where the security guard came from.