December 31, 2012-January 3, 2013

Unfortunately, I am waiting on my camera's battery charger to come in the mail, so I'm not able to post pictures just yet. Soon though... The adventure started with an early 6:30 A.M. flight from the Atlanta, GA airport to the Ft. Lauderdale, FL airport which wasn't as slow and painstaking as everyone said it would be. This was my first commercial plane ride ever. It was fantastic, simply, because the sun was rising as we were ascending. We had an almost two hour delay on the second flight so we tried sleeping in the most awkward positions on the uncomfortable chairs. Not Fun! The second flight didn't go as smooth. In the midst of trying to figure out our seating situation and annoying the guy beside us, I managed to trip up the flight attendants twice...whoops. As we were leaving the airport in San Jose, we were bombarded with Ticos, local Costa Ricans, asking us "Taxi?, Taxi?, Taxi a San Jose?" all the way to the bus station. "No, Bus!!" Be direct and loud so they get the point. So, we take a $1 bus ride versus a $20 taxi ride to the terminal where a very lovely woman helps us get a taxi. We arrived to our quaint hostel full of friendly people, unpacked, got some familiar food, Quiznos, of all places, and passed out! I woke around midnight to the hostel employees dressed as zombies and lots of fireworks. The next day, we tried to acclimate ourselves by walking around San Jose and getting some groceries. Note: 500 Colones equals 1 US Dollar. The money is beautiful, so colorful and various animals on the back. It feels like plastic. The next day, David, a nice fellow hostelian who happens to speak spanish, and I woke early and went to the market where they sell cheap fresh fruits, veggies, spices, seafood, and many other things! It was so much to look at that we for sure have to go back. Today, Callie and I went this local Museo de Arte and gawked at some amazing wooden carvings, paintings, drawings and volcano ash statues. San Jose is such a large, dense city that we will not be able to cover all there is to see in the short amount of time we have. We plan to visit some of the historic parts of the city before we continue our adventure further south. As time has passed here at the hostel, I have managed to inadvertently rebel against existing house rules and even created some new ones. Apparently, no dogs are allowed upstairs where the rooms are, my bad, and a new sign has been created saying "Don't place things on top of the mini oven" for they will melt! As we speak, a new sign should be created on Callie's behalf saying "Chairs will break if ones butt sits too hard." They are very passive aggressive around here if you cant tell. Signs everywhere. I cant wait to post pictures of the hostel and the city. I sincerely wish all of you could be here to experience this with us!
Miranda

So, first post...yeah...lemme jump right in then. It's day four of our adventure. It's been very tame so far, but that's fine. The flight was very early in the morning and I knew between excitement and friends making last minute visits I wasn't going to sleep. Seeing my fiance and mom off wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I expected the homesickness to start in eventually anyways. We flew the cheapest airline possible, Spirit, and of course you get what you pay for. That tin can...the seats didn't recline an inch, no provided music or movies, but I didn't really expect it since it's was a short flight. But dang, I would have liked to sleep. Good thing is I forgot my gum and my ears didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought they would. Miranda got the window seat which is awesome considering this was her first big plane ride :) The 2 1/3 layover in Ft Lauderdale was extended and I did actually get some sleep, scrunched up in a chair, and on concrete floor, but I was desperate. We had separate seats on the next flight, but I was sure we could work something out. Plus i was looking forward to leaning my seat back just a bit and getting some shut eye. When we came to our seats a lady was sitting in my seat but that was fine. We could work it out that the family sat together and we would sit together and the person flying alone would understand after we politely asked him if he could take the lone isle seat. NONONO. Wasn't standing for it. He wanted that window seat. Separated us, but the Dad in the family gave her his seat so we could be together. So nice. Then Window Seat Man PROMPTLY...fell asleep. jvnledkgjslktgjf. AND the seats didn't budge unless you had the strength of 12 men. And they charged for everything. 3 USD. For.A.Cup.Of. Noodles. I'm sorry for Window Seat Man, I was just so anxious on the flight. My raincoat makes an awful lot of noise. Like one of those awesome wind suits when you move around a lot. And I couldn't help pointing out land marks to Miranda, in his line of vision. Or jostling whenever he was taking notes. And the roar of the engines keep my voice a little above napping comfort levels. Upon arrival I kept my cool. In Ft Lauderdale I looked up all details on how to avoid a 20 USD taxi ride and how, what, when, where, which to take the public bus for $2. As usual in strange and unusual countries we were immediately bombarded by taxi drivers looking to prey on unsuspecting ignorant tourist. ( Tip #1: When being hassled anywhere abroad when you are obviously American. DO NOT LOOK THEM IN THE EYE. show no interest. No thanks will suffice. Don't explain your self, don't put your manners into play. Did you not see how many people were coming out of that building? They have plenty of business, don't waste their time. They have a job to do. Which doesn't include you or your luggage.) An agent told us were we needed to go and quickly got on the bus. Where we fumbled like idiots with the money. When in doubt pay in big bills, you'll get change. Into the city we go. And go. And go. And...where in the hell are we supposed to stop? As we go further into San Jose and I was pretty sure we just passed the city's biggest park, which Hostel Galileo was one block away from I dropped my pride, but kept my bravado, and asked the lady next to me where this was. I just pointed at the address I had written down and thank God she spoke some English, so sweet. She said the bus led to a terminal and she would help us get a taxi. I'm not one to ask strangers in strange lands for assistance. But she was a woman and I didn't give too many details. ( Tip #2: When traveling alone abroad, or with two young gorgeous females, keep all your travel deets to thine self. No one really needs to know when, how, and where, you're going. They usually don't care. And if they show a ridiculously amount of attention to you, they really don't need to know.)  Our taxi driver was SO KIND and HELPFUL that upon arrival to the intersection the Hostel Galileo was on he already had our bags on the sidewalk and had driven away before pointing to the location of our shelter for the next 7 days. He must be a very busy man. We looked around bewildered. Did a 180 looking for the red building and behind us there it was. So cute. It was New Years and we checked in PARTIED to ring in the New Year. Just Kidding. Fell asleep like the dead. We Did it. On our own. Like a BOSS. Late that night gunshots were heard. I was like greattttt, here we go. But no, it was FIREWORKS! and Zombies. I didn't even bother to get up, Miranda did. Cause she's a trooper. The next few days involved getting into contact with family and loved ones (Tip #3: Tell people where you are. It's a pain in the booty sometimes. But if anything happens, I want people to know at least what vicinity I was in last.) We went shopping at the grocery store (which is owned by the evil empire. Wal-Mart) and got enough food to last both of us for a week for 60 USD. Verry Nice. Hit up the free art museum (expect pictures). Played Mario Kart. Met people from all over the world. And have gained a new appreciation for SIESTAS! More to come. It's just the beginning.
Callie