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If you like to listen to the radio, there are two or three programs in English emanating from stations in San José with American announcers who give the news. Radio ECO on FM offers continuous American music of the big band days of Miller, Dorsey, Ellington, Herman, Goodman, Lombardo, Welk, Shaw and others. ECO (dial 95.9) is especially strong on famous hits of World War 2 and plays plenty of Sinatra songs and nostalgic music to soothe the ears of the older American retirees. A particular one is 95.5 on the dial which offers good Jazz. For news in Spanish, the three main stations are Monumental, Radio Reloj, and Radio Columbia. Good classical music is offered by Radio Universitaria.
All these things will help you feel more secure - give you a feeling that you have not been left alone in the wilderness, but that you're surrounded by known things, and though you're far from home physically, you're really close to it sentimentally. No doubt you'll miss your friends back home, but it's easy to make new ones in Costa Rica.
A really strong ally in helping you achieve your adjustment is to keep busy. Don't spend your full day reading a novel or staying in bed just to pass the time away. Keep busy cooking, gardening, visiting acquaintances, keeping your hobby alive if you have one (or start one), taking short drives out of town or going to more distant rural areas for a change of scenery. Some persons stave off boredom simply by going window shopping.
Many middle and upper-class Costa Ricans living in and around San José like to go to the two principal malls, the Multiplaza and the Mall San Pedro, merely to look around and pass the time away. Just entering a large store, seeing and feeling the merchandise and buying anything even if it's only grapes, a chocolate bar or an ice cream cone, will make you feel different and ward off any boredom. In early 2003 and through 2004 other malls were built and additional ones are in the planning stage for both eastern and western San José besides in some of the other large cities.
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