Sunday evening, we spent the night with our son and his wife since they live closer to the airport than we do. That way we wouldn't have to fight morning Atlanta traffic and probably an hour or better drive. Not to mention how stressed out we would be by the time we got there. We don't want to be late! We arrived in plenty of time at the new International Concourse for the airport, the place was pretty empty. Passports & boarding passes in hand we check our one large suitcase and continue on to security with our carry on luggage. It wasn't too much of a hassle to get thru security, although we did opt out of the body scanner and went through the ever so pleasant "pat down". They didn't find a thing on us, imagine that!
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| Getting Settled in for the Trip |
We finally arrive safely in San Jose after a bit of a delay in Atlanta, remember it is a full flight. Well, they asked for volunteers to give up their seat before departing and we had to wait for Delta to find, then unload the volunteer's luggage before we could leave. Amazingly enough we arrive only 20 minutes behind schedule, we must have had some great tail winds.
Arrival in San Jose airport was pretty easy, we went straight to immigration where we stood in line for probably 30 minutes before we finally got our passports officially stamped.
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| We're Officially In Costa Rica! |
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| $100 fine per month you overstay your allotted time in Costa Rica |
Dr. Cavallini's office had prepared us, in an email with instructions, for pickup at the airport. We were told Carlos would be picking us up and to look for him at the right of the exit outside. We were given his phone number as well, just in case we couldn't find him.
We made our way through the masses of people trying to find rental cars and taxis and stepped out into the Costa Rica air. The weather was wonderful! Somewhere in the high 70's with a slight breeze, there was a bit of overcast sky near the airport but further off in the distance the sun peeked through the clouds. The warm weather was wonderful and I couldn't wait until we got to enjoy this beautiful country.
Just as they had said, there was Carlos, with our names on his sign, standing & waiting for us to exit. Carlos was very talkative & spoke excellent English, having lived in the U.S. for several years. He took us to his car, loaded our luggage and then proceeded to the Cristina Suites Hotel. Along the way we asked lots of questions, where to eat? (local sodas), what about grocery stores? (AM/PM which is more of a mini mart or the larger grocery store Mas X Menos), why did you move back to Costa Rica? (for a better life, great climate, good food)... It took approximately 20 minutes or so to arrive at the hotel. Traffic was crazy and the motorcyclists were even crazier! Thank goodness we hadn't chosen to rent a car! They zip in out between cars and buses taking advantage of every opening in traffic they could get. Although at least the cars, buses and trucks stayed between the lines, where as in Indonesia and several other countries we have visited, they make their own lanes, as wide as the road will go. We asked Carlos if he had time to drive us to the dentist office and he said, if we could be quick with check-in he would be happy to drive us. It was about 2:30pm at this time.
Before leaving Georgia I had asked Edward what the schedule was for us once we arrived in Costa Rica. He said to be at Dr. Cavallini's office sometime after 2:00 for the initial consult.
Upon arriving at the hotel we were greeted by Elizabeth, who speaks perfect English as well. She was very pleasant and greeted us with a big smile. We told her that we were in a hurry because our ride was waiting on us, she said no problem, this will be quick. We filled out a small amount of paperwork and gave her our credit card for security. She said our room wasn't quite ready yet and that we could leave whatever luggage we wished with them at the front office and they would keep it safe until we returned. We were a bit apprehensive, but since we had locks on the luggage anyway, we figured we didn't have anything to lose (it was only clothes), if that were to be the case. We took the important stuff with us laptop, money & passports. So, we hopped back in the car with Carlos and headed to Dr. Cavallini's office. We asked Carlos about walking from the hotel to the office and he said it would be no problem for us, about 15-20 minutes, but not to walk the way he was driving us. There are several one-way streets in San Jose so he had to drive in less than a direct route to get to our destination. We arrive at the office and Carlos dropped us off outside, as he has someone else to pickup at the airport. We push the doorbell to be let in, it is securely locked at all times, and unless someone releases the lock you don't get in. Once in the building you can use the stairs or the elevator to get to the reception/waiting area. Don't expect that this office or clinic, as the name reads on the outside of the building, is anything remote to the environment you might be used to seeing at home, at least in the U.S. anyway. There is a small hotel called Cacts on the left next to the office and what looks to be someone's resident on the right. As in most countries like Costa Rica you will most certainly find homes intermingled with all sorts of businesses, some of them even live over their establishment.
Upon arriving in the office, the reception desk is to your left. This is where you will find Diana, who is almost always at the front reception desk. You are instructed to sign your name on the check-in sheet and you are given a clipboard full of papers that need to be filled out. These are the standard, medical history & release forms. We found a couple of seats in the waiting room, which was pretty full, and Bakty began working on filling out the forms.
Next Post: Tico Time
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