San José is often quite congested with traffic, but this day was unbelievable for a Weds. I made the mistake of attempting to meet a Fulbright acquaintance downtown. What should have been a 10 minute ride turned out to be a 40 minute ride.
The government decreed recently that Mondays will be the days when holidays are celebrated. It was done (I am told) to attract more tourism over a 3 day weekend. Despite the decree, however, Ticos still celebrated the holiday on its usual day. Of course, they will also celebrate it on Monday, the 20th. As one woman said, “I have no problem accepting as many gifts as people want to give me.” (It loses something in translation. It was quite funny.)