Arrival In The Land Of Coffee

Well, here I am in not so sunny Costa Rica. I arrived in the middle of the rainy season, so I have the humidity to deal with first. But first let's start with the trip here.

I took two planes to get to the capital city San Jose. On the first plane from Vancouver to Houston (after a whopping 3 1/2 hours sleep). I met Don & Sharon from Courtenay. They work for the UN inspecting prisons in Latin America. They had lived in costa Rica so gave me many useful tips on places to visit. They told me about a place called Chatty Cathy's, a small restaurant in Jaco (procounced Hako). Cathy is supposedly from Edmonton, having lived there I can understand why she left. I spent 3 hours in the Houston airport waiting for my connecting flight. I was pretty sure that the airport was NOT air-conditioned, and I was subjected to the dryest chicken sandwich I have hadd in my life. I suppose I should have expected that from a place called Popeyes, wherethey didn't even serve spinach OR fish. Oddly they didn't have an Internet Cafe, heathens. Settling into some chairs st my departure gate, I reviewed one of my textbooks (I know, I'm a geek) and listened to my now favourite CD made by a friend in Vancouver. Wow, the American accent is REALLY pronounced there. For those of you so entrusted I started making a list of stuff I want mailed to me.

After a short delay, they had to wait for a connection from Paris (France that is) we took off for San Jose, I might add here that both planes were packed, I mean no seats were free, Continental really packs them in. My seatmate on this flight was Chrisholm, one of the Paris passengers. He was travelling with his wife and son to do some recreational stuff (swimming, windsurfing, etc.) and birdwatching. He didn't seem to be too offended by my pathetic attempts at speaking French (those French are more polite than I gave the credit for).

When I got to San Jose there was a huge lineup at immigration, but my good luck seemed to be holding for timing things this week and was standing in a line that got halved when a new booth opened up. And boy was I surprised when they let me in! :) Initially I didn't see my boss who was going to pick me up causing slight concern (ok, I was freaked out). Fortunately a young guy offered to call on his cell phone, we tried the office but had no luck. He then walked through the crowd to call out his name, Les (my boss) was found in short order.

On the drive from the airport to the hotel (around 25 minutes) we passed my new house of worship ... San Jose has a Yaohan store. an I actually thought I might have to wait until January to have sushi. Silly me. It turns out it's only a 15 moinute walk from the hotel. Upon arrival at the hotel I got the local phone numbers info from my boss, called my parents to reassure them the plane had not crashed, had a shower and fell asleep.

Saturday was a day to sleep in, big time. I called one of the ladies at the office who had graciously volunteered to be my initial contact and left a message on her cell phone. Setting out bravely on my first walkabout I quickly learned that vehicles have the right of way here, not unlike Montreal, as well I discovered exactly how humid it is here. After returning to the hotel I went to the front desk to get some ice and met up with the other Vancouverite who is on a 1 month contract. After another call to Mercedes (the lady from work) she came by for a quick meeting. Naturally Mercedes drives a Mercedes. Lunch was the traditional McDonalds fare, just a block away, then off to Yaohan (and the peasants rejoiced, yeah).

During the day I ran across the contract guy from Vancouver and was invited out to a party at one of my co-worker's. Was picked up by Dave, a US ex-pat from Connecticut who, over the course of the evening filled me in on some of the best ways to get around (like always ask the taxi driver to use the meter until I am more confortable negotiating prices). We also picked up another Canadian who has been working for the same company for 6 months. At the party I discovered that everything is nackwards here ... this istheir "winter" (rainy season), coffee is dirt cheap (not a Starbucks in sight), anbd despite the fact I was the only one not drinking at the party I was the only one to trip and fall. :)

Sunday was again for sleeping in then off to the big shopping centre, MultiPlaza, my first try at a taxi. I must have done OK because I spent what was quoted to me as being a reasonable amount on the taxi. Naturally my next thougth was for karate, what else would I think of as necessary in a foreign country? I called the Sensei reccommended to me, he came right over and we had a quick dinner.

Monday was the big day at work, fortunately I remembered the names of the people I had met at the party, one advantage of not drinking. On the way to the office, which is a 5 minute walk from the hotel, I pass the Canadian Consulate, meaning I get to see the flag every day, it makes me feel at home. In fact it seems that a number of consulates and embassies (sp?) are located in this office complex (Japan is on the floor below us and I also saw the Korean flag outside one building). Not much to do initially, had to wait for my computer to be installed. The office is quite modern and has it's own maid. Yes, a maid, I actually had to ask regarding etiquette, what will she and won't she do (yes, she will make my tea if I ask, cool). One drawback is that the programming department is right bedside the server farm and it's a bit cold, never thought I would complain about being cold here. My last triumpgh of the day was figuring out how to call long distance collect, don't worry, I won't try it out on all of you.

Tuesday was a surprise as the other Canadian (the one who had been here 6 months) had left to go to Toronto, 1 day notice. How very unCanadian (i.e.: rude). He was only supposed to be here for a 3 month contract but had ended up staying longer than he anticipated. I was given a book on poker to read today, whoever thought I would get paid to learn how to play card games.

Today is Wednesday and I discovered that my hotel will be covered for a month or more until they help me find an apartment, how very civilized, I don't even have to try to read the Spanish newspapers, Mercedes is doing that all for me. There is an English language newspaper but it's only published once a week. (If you want to check it out online it's the Tico Times). I also got a crash course in poker today, I think it's more complex than mahjong. Well, I better get going, I am meeting Sensei Sabrio for dinner again, I think I'll start raining next week. For those of you karate people, you are invited to come and train, Mondays & Tuesdays are the nights they train.

Ok, I was too late to send this Weds. night, I am sending it Thursday morning.


Home








Home | Interests | Links | Costa Rica Stories
Canadian Songs | Privacy Policy