A few interesting things happened in transit from Costa Rica to Panama. The first was that I was assigned to sit next to a man who appeared to not be Spanish, he looked white like me and he was older. He seemed slightly awkward for some reason so I didn’t make any effort to talk to him. But, about 30 minutes into the flight, and after a little nap, he handed me my breakfast which he had been keeping for me while I slept. Along with that he asked if I was traveling for work but it went something like this. Whawhawhawhawhawhawhawha whawhawhaaaaaaaaa whawhawhawhawhawhawhat are you dododododododododododo ing in Panama? Poor guy had a stutter. A terrible one. I commend him for opening his mouth to talk to me, or anyone in general. I can’t imagine having to deal with that. We had a great conversation though, turns out he’s a scientist from Chicago who has lived in Panama since 1992 with his family (wife and children). He somehow works for an extension of the Smithsonian museum. Smart guy, I wasn’t really totally sure what to do in the instance that he couldn’t get his words out. At times I finished his sentences for him, other times I just looked away until he could get it out. I tried studying his face for signs of embarrassment when he would trip up, but we would go right back to normal conversation. Interesting experience.
Upon my exit from the airplane, and being the last person to leave the airplane, I caught a glimpse of the bus full of passengers on the way to the airport. I was stranded, well not really. The rest of the flight crew and pilots were too. I stood there and made very small talk (and of course declared myself “lucky” to be stuck with the flight crew) for a good 20 minutes in the hot Panamanian heat while waiting for something to bring us in. It was taking forever, but I thought it was pretty funny.
After getting a big thudded stamp on my passport, and having my bags scanned, I was out in the terminal. As usual, I headed right to the ATM so I could get myself some local currency. I didn’t know what the exchange rate was, so I just took out 100. And guess what came out of the machine? US dollars!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Yeah I'm alone on Valentine's Day, what of it?
I love driving around the countryside in Costa Rica. It’s a feast for the eyes. Lots of golden yellow and light grassy greens, along with rain clouds in the distance hovering over the mountains/volcanoes that sometimes produce rainbows. San Jose itself is a small, kinda crappy city but the surrounding towns are tiny and very farm-like. Very different from anywhere I have been, it’s fairly developed and modern, but at the same time it has a very rustic, humble, farm-like feel to it. Everywhere. I guess all the cows and donkeys, coffee, pineapple and banana plantations, and rows and rows of fields help promote that view. But the traffic sucks.
Speaking Spanish is becoming more and more comfortable. Well the listening part even more. I still cheat and ask if they speak English, but most of the time I speak spanglish or just Spanish, cause they probably understand my Spanish more than they can speak/understand English. It’s very rewarding. I had a 20 minute conversation with someone in a store today and only had to say “what?” a couple times. Proud of myself. Of course the conversation ended with him wanted to touch my “rubia” hair and asking if I had a boyfriend in Costa Rica. No old man, I’m going back to work now.
Had Peruvian food for dinner tonight. Quite good, it was my second time to this restaurant (I came two years ago). I avoided whatever his name was who was working at the restaurant next door. It was successful. I was wondering why the restaurants were so very busy today, and then remembered it was Valentine’s day. I was the only one there alone in a restaurant full of lovers and pretty dressed up girls, so very sad if you think about it. But I wasn’t sad. I sang along to the sappy love songs and hope everyone looked at me and realized how content I was, and wondered what the hell I was doing out alone on Valentine’s day. I just finished the San Jose survey gosh darn it!
I think I was frustrated when I wrote this one.
Got a happy valentine’s day wish today from one of my Indian friends. You know , it gets to be a real problem when you start forgetting who you have told you have a boyfriend to, and who you have not. I guess I should create a story and stick with it so that I don’t forget, but there are some that I don’t mind if they know I don’t have a boyfriend, and some that are just better off thinking that I do.
Ugh I need to get up in 2 hours. Why is it that I’m always stuck working so late finishing everything up perfect to a T? My fault or just not enough time? I’m really not sure. Anyways, tomorrow I go to Panama. Today was a whirlwind, I didn’t really expect it to be as busy as it was. I have been calling and emailing the freaking car insurance agent for a full week now, and he hasn’t gotten back to me AT ALL. I don’t get it, this has never happened to me before. And this guy is suppose to be THE contact for one of the major relocation agents in the country! Service in Central America I guess, though I haven’t seen it this bad. I’m about to give them a piece of my mind with a lot of English swear words involved. (In these situations I try to pretend that I’m actually someone really important, where in real life I’m not, but that’s OK. We tend to lie our way through getting information quite often. Most of the time it works.) Today there was lots of traffic. Since Lorena cancelled on me because of her car accident, she didn’t have time to meet with me today (though it took an email and a phone call to get her to say one way or the other; again… typical central America)…. She would talk with me tomorrow, but just in case I thought I would try calling Crown Relocation which we meet with throughout most of the world. Oh my god I wish I didn’t, it was like pulling teeth. They were about 45 minutes away from my hotel with the traffic that I had to deal with, and I got there and had to sit in on a meeting with 3 people; the country manager, the business director and an account manager while I tried over and over again to explain why it’s important that they meet with me and help me out with information, and lightly try to tell them no that I’m not trying to promote this crazy business opportunity for them. Maybe in the long run it will be a good thing for them that I met with them because our clients will be aware of their presence in Costa Rica, but they just… wouldn’t… get it. Kept asking the same questions over and over again, I didn’t know how to answer them any differently. It took about 45 minutes before we could finally move on to the information that I needed. After about a half hour the country manager was possibly getting frustrated and said “wow, you better give Crowne credit for this!” I wanted to kick his teeth out. You’re an amateur, you don’t know who we are. Get some more experience, realize our importance and then get back to me. We actually have somewhat of a partnership with Crowne somewhere in Asia I believe it is. Still didn’t even phase them. Part of me thinks they were just stupid people. No that’s mean.
Ugh I need to get up in 2 hours. Why is it that I’m always stuck working so late finishing everything up perfect to a T? My fault or just not enough time? I’m really not sure. Anyways, tomorrow I go to Panama. Today was a whirlwind, I didn’t really expect it to be as busy as it was. I have been calling and emailing the freaking car insurance agent for a full week now, and he hasn’t gotten back to me AT ALL. I don’t get it, this has never happened to me before. And this guy is suppose to be THE contact for one of the major relocation agents in the country! Service in Central America I guess, though I haven’t seen it this bad. I’m about to give them a piece of my mind with a lot of English swear words involved. (In these situations I try to pretend that I’m actually someone really important, where in real life I’m not, but that’s OK. We tend to lie our way through getting information quite often. Most of the time it works.) Today there was lots of traffic. Since Lorena cancelled on me because of her car accident, she didn’t have time to meet with me today (though it took an email and a phone call to get her to say one way or the other; again… typical central America)…. She would talk with me tomorrow, but just in case I thought I would try calling Crown Relocation which we meet with throughout most of the world. Oh my god I wish I didn’t, it was like pulling teeth. They were about 45 minutes away from my hotel with the traffic that I had to deal with, and I got there and had to sit in on a meeting with 3 people; the country manager, the business director and an account manager while I tried over and over again to explain why it’s important that they meet with me and help me out with information, and lightly try to tell them no that I’m not trying to promote this crazy business opportunity for them. Maybe in the long run it will be a good thing for them that I met with them because our clients will be aware of their presence in Costa Rica, but they just… wouldn’t… get it. Kept asking the same questions over and over again, I didn’t know how to answer them any differently. It took about 45 minutes before we could finally move on to the information that I needed. After about a half hour the country manager was possibly getting frustrated and said “wow, you better give Crowne credit for this!” I wanted to kick his teeth out. You’re an amateur, you don’t know who we are. Get some more experience, realize our importance and then get back to me. We actually have somewhat of a partnership with Crowne somewhere in Asia I believe it is. Still didn’t even phase them. Part of me thinks they were just stupid people. No that’s mean.
Volancos and hot springs...
Today was so nice. Well, I went to bed late as usual last night and that wasn’t very nice, but oh well. Typical. I got out of bed at 8 am and starting washing up. 5 minutes into in my phone rang. “Good morning and we are here early!” Oh man, I told them it would be about 10 minutes and made record time with getting dressed. Good thing I did all my showering and prepping for stuff to bring the night before! The drive out and seeing the countryside was very nice. We stopped at an artisan’s shop that makes oxcarts (Guinness book of world record-holder actually) and looked around the shop. They had excellent wooden products. I bought a bracelet and a set of wooden coasters, all very pretty. Hopped back on the bus and I napped until we stopped for an excellent lunch, I got the “casado” which consisted of rice, black beans, plantains, salad, beets and chicken. I got to know some of the other people on the tour. There was a little boy with an Indian father and a Bulgarian mother. He was the cutest little thing, so happy go lucky, never heard him cry. He must have been 2.5-3 years old. Grandma had purple hair. I met two couples; one of which currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. But, they spent 12 years in an ashram in India! Unbelievable. The other couple “live” between Florida and Australia but travel just about constantly. They spent years in Jakarta, Indonesia where their kids we to the international school there. He is from NY, she is from Australia. They met traveling and just kept it up. She was telling me that after their Costa Rica trip they were “talked into” going on a cruise (where they would be going back to Central America!) and then to NY for a wedding. Constant travel, but they seem to love it. They both seemed young; have kids that are 26 and 28, but are both retired. She was a nurse, he was a financial accountant for Kaiser. I don’t know, I feel like there has to be something else going on for them to have enough money to support all that travel.
After lunch, it was hiking time. We hiked a short hour around the base of the volcano Arenal. Very pretty, but I thought I was going to be able to see some active volcano action, which I did not. I got stung by something and momentarily freaked a little, but it was fine. I saw some beautiful flowers, leaf-cutter ants and some very, very large leaves.
From there we went to the hot spring resorts, and that was lovely. There was pool after pool of waterfalls and warm thermal water. I get lost roaming the pathways of the grounds and finding all the hidden waterfalls and entrances where there was no one around. It was pretty amazing and beautiful. I went in and then chatted with my new couple friends until it was time for dinner. Dinner was a Costa Rican buffet and it was excellent. First course was salads, seconds was rice and meat and such. I was laughed at when my desert plate consisted of a second spoonful of rice and 2 small desserts. Wow you eat a lot! Yeah, that’s pretty much my trademark :)
On the way back, Manfred the guide gave me his card and told me to keep in touch. I’ll keep his card because I feel kinda bad, but it’ll probably end up in the trash. I have no reason to keep in touch. I passed out all the way to the hotel. It was a busy day, but a really nice one!
Plaza Itskatzu in Escazu
Met another guy obsessed with Boston sports today. Specifically the Patriots. It’s nice to feel especially welcome because of something I have in common with a local or two. Also, I’ve been told on multiple occasions that my Spanish is really good. That’s so nice to hear!
Nothing special went on today. Had some great sushi at the Intercon though, (oh my goodness and an AWESOME salad, it had avocado, sushi salmon and cukes finally chopped with some awesome pastry-like crunchy “noodles” to go along with it. Divine. I listened to a bunch of guys that sounded like they were gambling bigwigs of some sort, I couldn’t make it out, but it sounded like they were heavily involved in the sports industry or something. I tried hard to figure it out. The Intercon is a lot nicer than my hotel, but for some reason I love the casual, homey and airy feel of my hotel. The doors are always open, and there’s always fresh air circulating. Even if the biggest disappointment is that they don’t serve lunch all day like they use to!
I had the most bizarre survey sitch tonight. I got caught taking prices with my phone immediately after walking into a store, it was so unusual. Never has such a thing happened to me while trying to be so discreet. After it happened on the first floor, I went upstairs. Someone caught me right away on the second floor too and I tried to keep going but the lady followed me. Finally I gave up and walked out. So bizarre. The mall in Escazu is really high end and very nice, in general. Oh, and I loved this two years ago… but I’m staying in Itskazu plaza in Escazu. So funny! Tomorrow I am getting up early to see the Arenal Volcano, and I’m super excited, though I’m sure I’ll be very tired as well.
A couple days ago, I got caught in Hiper Mas (like a higher-end Walmart) by the security and the manager. They told me I couldn’t survey, but it was the end of the night anyways. Today I went back and finished on my blackberry without even a 2nd glance. I never saw the manager, that helped. The other night I couldn’t find my way out of the store. Everything was gated up and locked so I had to find the only exit and make sure to call the hotel for a car cause there were none in sight. I walked around for a good 20 minutes before I could finally figure out where the heck I was going. I actually got a little nervous. I talked spanglish with the guard (which I have done a lot this trip) before the taxi came, it didn’t take all too long.
I have a boyfriend PERIOD
So I woke up today… well I had been up for 10 minutes, and the phone rings. Hmm… is Lorena here already? Nope. Some other girl was calling me to tell me that poor Lorena had just gotten into a freaking car accident. Ugh. I felt terrible, she got in an accident on her way to come here to meet with me! So, even though I hope I am able to meet with her before I leave, I feel terrible about pressing her for it, I’ll see if I hear from her on Monday. Then I went back to sleep. I was temporarily happy about it and then I didn’t wake up again until 12:30 pm. Oops. I met with Cecilia at 2, another friendly face. It was good to see her. Kisses all around, even for her new realtor guy. That was one of those going for the handshake moments… oh ok nevermind, he went in for the cheek kiss. That wasn’t awkward or anything.
That night I went to dinner at the plaza next to the hotel. Tapas restaurant, and it wasn’t very good either. I got some garlic shrimp, chorizo, and muscles. None of it was very fresh. Alvaro was my waiter and he kept on bothering me wanting to talk while I was eating, even though he told me I didn’t even look like I was over 18. Whatever, not a big deal. At the end, before I left, I asked him if there was any place open late around there. No he said, but he would bring me by some sangria to my hotel if I wanted. After saying no a couple times, I decided to say yes. Why not. I could have some drinks and finish my work in the lobby. So, not thinking much I give him my room number. I’m fairly shocked when about 20 minutes later there was a knock on the door. I expected a phone call, not a knock. And he wasn’t dropping it off, he was bringing it to share. Oops. After some TV watching and awkward conversation, he started making moves on me. I had to refuse his kisses multiple times and had even told him that I “had a boyfriend” and finally, not until after saying it multiple times, the ass finally left. In hopes that we would be having lunch tomorrow. Not gonna happen. Pain in the ass.
That night I went to dinner at the plaza next to the hotel. Tapas restaurant, and it wasn’t very good either. I got some garlic shrimp, chorizo, and muscles. None of it was very fresh. Alvaro was my waiter and he kept on bothering me wanting to talk while I was eating, even though he told me I didn’t even look like I was over 18. Whatever, not a big deal. At the end, before I left, I asked him if there was any place open late around there. No he said, but he would bring me by some sangria to my hotel if I wanted. After saying no a couple times, I decided to say yes. Why not. I could have some drinks and finish my work in the lobby. So, not thinking much I give him my room number. I’m fairly shocked when about 20 minutes later there was a knock on the door. I expected a phone call, not a knock. And he wasn’t dropping it off, he was bringing it to share. Oops. After some TV watching and awkward conversation, he started making moves on me. I had to refuse his kisses multiple times and had even told him that I “had a boyfriend” and finally, not until after saying it multiple times, the ass finally left. In hopes that we would be having lunch tomorrow. Not gonna happen. Pain in the ass.
Guatemala is scary. Costa Rica is not.
I get into Costa Rica and I am re-shocked to find an exchange rate of 443 to the dollar. Like, why is that necessary? I just don’t understand currencies sometimes.
Anyways, I’m so glad to be back. There are mountains in the distance, lush greenery and beautiful flowers everywhere, lots of wildlife, it’s hot and humid. I’m lovin it. It takes a while to get to the hotel because of traffic, but immediately on arrival, I pass the F out. I’m totally exhausted. Up at 1:30 pm, I’m getting ready for a realtor meeting. I’m meeting Oscar for the second time. He tells me a story of how his brother was a diplomat in Guatemala, so him and his wife moved there. While there, she was out with their chauffeur and was robbed and beaten, both of them were. His wife had been pregnant, and was so badly hurt that she lost the baby, and not only that, both of them were left for dead on the street until another diplomat drove by and recognized her! Likewise, I remember Luis telling me that just a month ago, two motorbikes pulled up to either side of his car. Both had guns and demanded that he hand over his cell phone he was talking on. Second time it’s happened to him. Guatemala really is quite dangerous.
Anyway, it was nice to see a familiar face, though I remember thinking that Oscar was a little confusing cause he’s a bit all over the place with what he’s talking about. Some of which is not relative to what I need to know. Then he asked when we were going to send him clients. I never know how to answer that question unfortunately!
After, went to the mall and ate Burger King cause I needed a quick bite. Yuck. The mall I went to, for the second time in my life, is really very nice. And very large. Will be going back tomorrow, most likely.
Time for bed. I love you Costa Rica.
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