Let me preface this blog post with the
following:
The above was an eerily similar experience that I
had today with none other than Delta Airlines. As I was going through check-in
and security, I found everything going rather swimmingly. This is actually
saying a lot about the situation, because normally when my family takes a
vacation that I am a part of, something terrible happens. Not necessarily
because of my presence (looking at you, Dad), but it's just a thing that happens.
Well. The terrible thing did happen. As I was
sitting waiting for my flight, Delta suddenly decided that I couldn't get on
the plane because I needed to have a visa, because I was going to be staying
longer than 90 days (which is the allotted tourist amount). Despite my
explanations that my program was going to process visa extensions, they swore
that I could not get on the plane without a visa (which is not true in the
least, because I ended up talking to three kids who ended up on the same flight as me to Costa Rica, who didn't have any trouble at all). Long story short, I ended
up with a ticket I'm never actually going to use and $200 less in my bank
account.
BUT. The good news is that I did eventually get to
Costa Rica. HOORAY.
 |
| Deltaaaaaaa! *shakes fist* |
After the debacle about the visa, I ended up explaining to the
immigration officer that I was staying past the 90-day mark because I was
studying abroad. And his response was pretty much like “Yeah, okay.” Granted, I
had to show him proof of my acceptance into the OTS program, but whatever. Easier to deal with than
Delta was.
Anyways, customs went swimmingly. After that, I found the right person
to meet, and then we eventually headed back to a hotel in San Jose. All of the
people in my program that I’ve met so far are super nice. And additionally, everyone is clearly also just as nerdy as I am about the kinds of things that we’ll be
doing in this program. We all agreed on walking around San Jose for a bit once
we were settled in.
I know how awkward it must have looked for a bunch of college-aged
gringos walking past the same block four times, but in the end, we made it down
to the more tourist-y section of San Jose. Saw the Post Office Building, the
National Theatre, and a bunch of shopping markets. There also may be an appearance of us in a music video (? -I
think that’s what it was…). All I know is that there was a band playing and
then they artistically walked away down the street with a guy filming them with a camera, and I’m pretty sure all of
us were in that shot. So look out for that five minutes of fame.
We also had the experience of exchanging some money at a local bank as
well. I got way too excited about the colones bearing pictures of a shark and a
sloth, respectively. There are some historical figures on the back of both
bills as well, but clearly sloths and sharks are more exciting.
After wandering around San Jose, we returned to our hotel for some
pizza and ended up meeting another professor of ours. She also seems really nice and very experienced about the world of tropical biology. Finally, we proceeded to crash in our hotels. It’s been a long day- but at
least I’m finally here! I will post more pictures when the internet isn’t so spotty.
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