All was going according to plan. Sam and I found that there was no line for our movie yet, so we went to buy some sandwiches for dinner in the food court. I was feeling great. I ordered Sam's sandwich (she doesn't speak Spanish), I ordered my sandwich, I even made a joke with the woman who was helping me...I was on top of my Spanish game. When it came time to pay, however, panic set in. My wallet was missing. I swear my heart stopped. I had just paid my cab fare with my wallet in the taxi. I frantically had Sam pay for my food and instructed her to wait in line for the movie to save seats. I ran outside and jumped in the nearest taxi I could find. I needed to get back to Natalie's work as soon as possible; her boss had the number of the cab company. Note to self: never let a cab drive away without looking at the number on the side of the car first.
Of course, this taxi driver had no idea where Natalie's building was. I had only been there once before, and the mall was coming from the other direction than the way I had come. Suddenly, I saw a street lined with cabs in front of a shopping center. One of these cabs could have been my cab! My time frame was small. Surely my original taxi driver had picked up new passengers by now. Surely those passengers would have seen my zippered tan Coach wallet pouch in the backseat. I jumped out of the cab and searched every car. No one had my wallet. I was sweating, stressing, panicking. My heart was racing.
Suddenly, I recognized Natalie's building in the distance. I sprinted in that direction, disregarding every pedestrian on the street and all traffic signs. I fled up the stairs and through the entrance to the Aerocasillas office. I flung myself inside, sped around the corner and burst into Natalie's office. I screamed, "NatalieIlostmywallet andIthinkit'sonthetaxi andIneedthenumbernow helpme!"
Silence. The general manager of all Aerocasillas in the Central American region was addressing the entire room. I have only met him once before when he was one of our guest speakers. He is kind of a big deal. Humiliation set in. I blathered, "Ohmygawd. You are running a business. Iamsosorry. Losientomucho. Iamsosorry Iamsosorry." Luckily, he was understanding, but I am still mortified.
Natalie's boss called the cab company and informed that they were sending another cab over to the building to take me back to the mall. I kept asking, "But do they have my wallet? Do they have it?" All she said was, "I'm not sure. I think so." Um, hello? I need that wallet.
A few minutes later, I still wasn't breathing properly. Natalie and I went downstairs. I held my breath as we climbed into the taxi. The driver turned around and handed me my tan wallet pouch. Hallelujah! All was right in the world. I checked inside. All of my identification, credit cards and money was accounted for. Note to self: never let my wallet out of my sight ever again.
The adrenaline rush turned into an endorphine high. I glided back into the mall, back on top of the world as I awaited the start of Harry Potter. My nervous anxiety turned into excitement. Natalie, Sam and I discussed our favorite books while we waited in line. There is nothing like Harry Potter conversations between avid readers and fans. We finally made it to the theater, all limbs intact and all belongings in tow. We found perfect seats and chatted away until the previews started. Escazú is not like most other towns in the area. It is the wealthiest area, and it was obvious from looking around that most people were affluent. A family in front of us was speaking Spanish and English. There were many ethnicities there, from Indian to Middle Eastern to Asian. Peoples' overall appearances were just wealthier.
Finally, the movie started. I was pleased, merely because Harry Potter can always make me happy, but there were a lot of changes. The romantic interests were played up much more on screen. The Weasley's house was burned down. There was no battle with the Death Eaters at Hogwarts. There was no funeral for Dumbledore. The special effects were fantastic, though. Quidditch games never fail to amuse, and most of the scenes were accurate. It's always going to be a challenge to condense such large volumes down to two-and-a-half hour movies. For me, the books will always trump the movies. Note to self: re-read the series.
After the movie, we jumped into the first taxi we could find. We forgot to ask if he had a meter amid our post-movie chatter, and by the time we did, we were too far to get out. He didn't have a meter, and he planned to charge us 7,000 colones to go back to Zapote. It should have been 3,000 - 4,000. We asked him to take Sam home first, given her recent mugging incident. This was a little out of his way. When we finally pulled up to our house, he demanded 9,000 colones for the change in route. Unbelievable. I told him he was being ridiculous, but we had to pay. We were completely taken advantage of. Note to self: never get in a taxi without a meter. Ugh! Whatever. I had my wallet, at least, but now it was empty.
On Saturday morning, we were at Veritas by 7 a.m., ready for white water rafting and zip lining through the rain forest canopy. I slept easily on the 90 minute drive and woke up just in time for our arrival. Unfortunately, we were a few minutes late. The 9 a.m. rafting group had already left, and we had to wait until 11 a.m. The wait wasn't too bad. We ate a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, watermelon, gallo pinto and tortilla with cheese. We walked around the facilities and found a butterfly garden. I love butterflies; I admire their colorful grace.
We had to tie rubber bands onto our flip flops so they wouldn't fall off in the river. Note to self: don't forget Tevas next time. The bands were so uncomfortable, and the second we stepped in the water, our flip-flops twisted and almost fell off. I was annoyed with myself for forgetting. Once we were in the rafts, though, it didn't really matter. All of the recent rain had caused the water in the river to rise. The conditions were around 3 to 3.5, with 5 being the highest, deadly/professional level. It was exhilarating! I absolutely loved it. Natalie, Amy, Evan, Eric, Karol and I were in one raft. The rest of the group was in the other. The river water was brown from recent mudslides and bad weather, but it didn't affect the natural beauty of the surrounding trees and forestry. We definitely got thrown around a bit. Amy slammed down on her leg at one point and seriously injured her ankle. She can barely walk now, but she managed to make it all the way down the river. It started pouring rain in the middle of our tumultuous ride. We were soaked, and I loved it.
We showered off at Pozo Azul and got ready for our next adventure, zip lining, but were stopped short when they told us that the combination of the bad weather and a bee nest infestation on the lines meant we could not go into the canopy. I was so disappointed. Zip lining was what I have been looking forward to all summer. After another delicious meal, we lounged around in comfy chairs that overlooked the rushing river. As it poured rain, I watched the smooth black stones disappear under the white foam rising on the banks. We hung out at Pozo Azul all day doing nothing. There was a brief soccer match between some locals and the boys in our group, but no one could keep score or see what they were doing in the heavy rain. They mostly just slipped in the muddy grass and ran around.
After a long, relaxing afternoon, I was looking forward to a hot shower and our "tent" facilities that were rumored to be pretty upscale. Amy, Natalie and I navigated our way through the trails to our tent. It had a large wooden balcony and two full beds inside. There was a nightstand with a lamp and vase of flowers, and a complete bathroom was attached. We were thrilled. It was a hotel room with sturdy tent flaps instead of concrete walls. It was camping with a twist. I opened the bathroom door to check out the shower situation and fumbled around for the light switch. I turned on the light, thoroughly impressed with the quality of our lodging and suddenly I screamed.
Yes, I screamed, louder than I ever have before (and I reach volume levels that only the heavens can hear). There was a spider. No, I wouldn't call it a spider. There was a monster the side of a softball on the wall above the sink. I thought creatures like this only existed in movies or in boxes in science museums. The only spider I have ever seen even close to this size was made of rubber and safely packed in plastic wrapping in the aisles of Party City around Halloween. It was the size of the palm of my hand. I think my heart stopped.
I cannot document what happened next, because I can't remember. I blocked out the anxiety attack that followed. I was told that the security guard heard my screams (along with every other guest in a three mile radius) and came running. He tried to kill the spider but only managed to injure its leg before it ran behind the cabinet, out of reach. Eric tried to convince us that it was safe, but I knew better. The second the screams stopped and the light went off, the monster would come out of hiding and crawl into who-knows-what. How could I shower knowing there could be a spider in my hair? How could I sit on the toilet knowing an eight-legged insect could be lurking under the seat? How could I sleep without feeling a distant tingle crawling up the blankets? No. No, no, no. My reaction was completely justified. I was not being high maintenance in the slightest. This was so unbelievable it could have passed as fake.
Of course we changed rooms. After three ice cold showers, our tent was flooded. Annoying, yes, but I would take a flood over a killer arachnid any day. We ventured out of the wild and back to Pozo Azul for our third meal there. The hot tomato soup as an appetizer was just what I needed to calm my nervous after my near-death experience. We were just digging in to our grilled chicken and vegetables when our bus driver came inside with some bad news.
The thunderstorm was causing so much water surge from the rain that the river was rising too rapidly. There was a flash flood warning for the bridge and road leading up to our lodging. We went outside. The water was coming up so fast; it was scary. We had to leave right then. Everyone was saying, "Go now or don't go at all."
So, we left. No dinner for us. We gathered in the storm and played team Scrabble (Spanish and English). Alira, Natalie and I came in second place! I was amazed at how my English vocabulary has worsened. I couldn't think of words in either language. Everyone retired to their tents early given that there wasn't anything else to do. Natalie and I did a full bed scan before we got in. There really was no point in getting in bed, because I didn't sleep at all. Thunder, lightning and pouring rain is not conducive to a full night's rest. Note to self: never use sounds of the rain forest on noise sleep machines.
Sunday morning finally came. We found out that Pozo Azul's zip line still wasn't up and running. Luckily, it was arranged for us to zip line at nearby location instead. I would have been so upset if we hadn't gone. Zip lining was so much fun! There were a few other families there. One group was from Holland, and one was from Belgium. The zip line employees spoke English with them. I marveled at how English was neither groups' first language, but it was their only way to communicate on the same level.
The rain forest was beautiful. I zip lined over the river and through the trees. We were supposed to brake at every platform, but I had trouble slowing down. I wanted to go faster and faster. There were a few hikes between the platforms and even one ladder to climb. I liked the platforms high up in the canopy, though. They felt like tree houses. By the end, my clothes were splattered with oil from the lines. Two of the guys working the zip lines told me I speak Spanish really well! I was honored, but who knows if they were just trying to deliver top notch customer service...
After a shower and another scrumptious lunch, we hit the road to drive the 90 minutes back to San José. I was just getting excited for an afternoon of relaxation at home with my host family, when we came to an abrupt halt on the highway. The bad weather had caused a mudslide. The mudslide, or errumbe, was blocking the pista (highway) and had to be closed. We got out and watched the soccer game on television in a roadside restaurant. Then, we found it the road was going to be closed all night. Note to self: always know shortcuts when you travel.
We had to take a five hour detour through the mountains to get back to the city. I was so annoyed, but it had to be done. We stopped at a pharmacy in a random town at one point. Natalie has had a strange rash on her stomach for almost two weeks now. I thought it was ringworm (there was a red dot surrounded by a perfectly round, raised red circle), but the doctor in the pharmacy said it was a fungus. I think she got it from the sweaty disgusting exercise mats at the gym. I hope the doctor is right. I think ringworm is contagious...
We finally made it home by 8 p.m. The family got a new fish and a new refrigerator over the weekend. I couldn't believe it. Now, we have five fish: Dory, Dorito, Duck, Chumeco y Miranda. Yes, Miranda.
All night the electricity was going on and off. This morning, Patri said something to me while I was in the shower about the hot water affecting the lights. I couldn't really understand her, so I just told her I would shower quickly. I'm annoyed. How can they afford a new fridge and new pets when they can't even pay their electric bill on time? Note to self: always pay the utilities bill first.
I'm happy I survived my rougher-than-intended weekend. It was a lot of fun aside from the unforeseen circumstances. I think we definitely got the full rain forest experience in Costa Rica's wet season.
Tonight, we're going to El Cuartel for some live music. We're all going go-kart racing on Wednesday. Ila comes Thursday! I can't wait.
Note to self: expect the unexpected in Costa Rica.
Pura Vida,
Lauren
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