My College Weekend

It’s amazing how all the world over college towns are the same. On Friday, I had a meeting for work at my new office which is on the same side of town as the Universidad de Costa Rica. After the meeting, I headed out with my new co-workers to enjoy the beautiful non-rainy day. This is especially of note because it’s rainy season here and even if it’s a pretty morning there’s almost always a guarantee of afternoon rain. However, Friday it never rained at all so people were out in full force to live it up much like the first spring day in Chicago.

It was 3 in the afternoon and we went down to la famosa Calle de la Armargura, a street that could be picked up and plopped down in Madison or Boulder and look like it is still in the right place. Armargura is lined with bars on both sides of the street blaring music in attempts to lure you into one watering hole over another.

Our drinking den of choice was Caccio’s, which like any good college bar should, specializes in pizza and beer. The beer comes in giant steins that, unbelievably, they are constantly running out of (did anyone tell them they that people who go there do so to drink beer?). The big draw though is the small, street side terrace where you can sit and people watch for hours while Lady Gaga drowns out any chance for intelligent conversation. The people watching was good though as college kids look the same here as they do everywhere else. They’re trying so hard to be unique individuals who look nothing like the millions of students who have gone before them. Oops, perhaps that’s a little too bitter old lady; hopefully the youngsters didn’t get a whiff of that as I sat on the terrace trying to blend with the cool kids ten years my junior.

Well, the night continued on, probably much longer than it should have. It’s especially embarrassing when friends join the party at a decent hour smelling freshly showered and sober. Although, I’d like to think otherwise, I’m pretty sure the six hours of drinking were clearly displayed in our appearance by that point. When I woke up on Saturday morning with my contacts still in and a full face of makeup still on I had my suspicions that it wasn’t a pretty ending.

But kicking off the weekend college style was just what I needed to ensure the rest of the weekend would be spent laying around the house being lazy. Just as I was starting to feel guilty for acting like a teenager I got an email from my sister who is 18 months my senior and she too had her Friday night makeup on until she went to bed on Saturday. I guess I have at least 18 more months until I should feel too old for weekends like this.