Off to a great start ;)

So, I have had this nervous/anxious feeling about flying to Costa Rica the past couple days. I found this rather peculiar, because it is not like I haven’t traveled internationally before. My friend Sarah and I got on the same flight out Minneapolis to Costa Rica, and we decided it would be best to arrive at the airport plenty ahead of time. We got are boarding passes printed, had plenty of time to say goodbye to my parents, smoothly made it through security, and sat and people watched before we boarded on time.

Not. NOT. NOT!!!!!

Turns out I most definitely had something to worry about! While printing our boarding passes, the employer asked to see our return tickets. We casually explained we hadn’t booked them yet. The look of distress on her face, immediately made my stomach turn. She explained that it was a new law in Costa Rica that all visitors entering must show proof of a ticket out of Costa Rica within 90 days, and that they couldn’t let us on the plane without one. Then, she continued to blabber for several minutes without really telling us any useful information, or giving us any real advise of a plan out of this horrible predicament. Finally, Sarah and I walked away from the counter in panic mode. We spent $8 on internet, and tried to book a bus ticket to Panama. However, none of the bus website allowed the option of booking online! We finally got a number to call, spent way too much money on an international phone call only to have the man on the other line say a few words in Spanish to me and hang up the phone. At this point the minutes were melting away quickly, and I literally thought I was going to ralph all over the airport floor. I desperately began searching the internet again, when my Mama walked over with an employer, Scott, from a different airline who apparently had lived in Costa Rica for a year. He started chattering about how great Costa Rica is, and all the places we should see. I really wanted to scream, “THAT IS GREAT, BUT IF YOU DON’T START HELPING ME OUT OF THIS MESS I WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE IT FOR MYSELF.” Finally, he gave us a few websites to try, but again they wouldn’t allow for online booking. He started talking about some other option he was going to go try, but at this point I had completely written him off as a viable source out this mess. So, I continue looking up dead end options, until my Mama came running over and explained that we could buy a $900 refundable ticket to Panama City. So, we ran over and had Scott book our tickets. Of course, this was not a quick process and I began doing a little jig that resembled an, “I really have to go potty dance” to calm my nerves. Eventually, we had the $900 tickets in our hands, ran back to the other airline to prove we were going to leave Costa Rice, quickly said goodbye to my parents, ran to our gate, confirmed that we were indeed getting on our flight so they would send our luggage, and took our first full deep breath in hours!

I am now in Denver, and waiting to board our flight at 1am. We are scheduled to land around 5:30am. Our host Mama, who only speaks Spanish, is picking us up!
Stay tuned for what will happen next. HELLO ADVENTURE!