It’s been over two years since we’ve traveled internationally as a family, sidelined by the coronavirus. We used to be good at this, but it was quite clear today we’re out of practice. Watching Rick Steves watch Rick Steves episodes on Zoom during lockdown was not as helpful as I thought it would be.
We left for San Jose, Costa Rica last night. This was the replacement trip for what should have been an amazing adventure in Peru in 2020. Since the kids are all older now, we only gave a general list of how to pack and left it to them. Since we didn’t monitor this at all, it was a bit disconcerting when Dinah’s bag was pulled by TSA - we had absolutely no idea what she might have put in there. We were relieved, and the agent was amused, by the mound of stuffed animals that poured out for closer inspection and explosive testing. Dinah clearly followed this pro-tip from her brother on how to pack.
The flight through the night was mostly uneventful. Very little happened, including sleep. But in our grogginess, we thought we had things dialed-in at the airport. Rather than rent a car, we heard the Uber is fast, easy, and now the way to get around in Costa Rica. The airport is clearly not set up for ridesharing apps, but we thought this must be because it’s new. The swarm of police eyeing us while we turned away taxis and stared at our phone made us think maybe something else is going on. Then the taxi driver who yelled “Uber is illegal” in broken English really gave it away. We had heard this, but didn’t quite realize it was that illegal. Meeting our driver ended up looking more like a rookie drug deal from Breaking Bad when he too realized they were on to us.
From there, naps and walking around San Jose made for a decent first day. The Museum of Costa Rican Art is near our apartment. Formerly the old airport, it now houses a small but wonderful collection. The walk to lunch included a treacherous pedestrian bridge - even with no railings and rebar threatening to impale us, somehow this seemed less dangerous than walk-in across the street.
We’ve been working on our Spanish, but the Spanish comes at you fast here. Our lawbreaking Uber driver, when he wasn’t dangerously blurring the lanes and driving too fast and close, pointed out that we should say we speak “poquito español” rather than “pequeño.” But ours feels right, we speak small Spanish.
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| Don’t slip |
Used to be an elevator for those afraid they might slip
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| Nothing to say here, I just like this |
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| Art that implies it might rain here |
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| Fluffy flower |
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| The view from our apartment |
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