Costa Rica bound: 4/15/10

(from hand-written journal)

It’s my second day here in the beautiful country of Costa Rica and I’m finally settling in.

I took the train from Red Bank, NJ to the airport (Newark) and had to wait there for two hours before the American Airlines desk opened at 3:00 A.M.—kinda boring, but I was glad to be there with plenty of time to spare. For awhile I felt like a homeless person crashing in a big bus station.

Once I checked my bag I breezed through security and waited another hour-and-a-half before my flight to Miami boarded. The flight went by quickly. I was served breakfast (corn flakes, bananas, water, champagne) and watched 30 Rock and The Office on the in-flight tele. So far, not much different than home but for the fact that I was in first class.

We landed in Miami and I bought a surfing magazine to get psyched. After another hour-and-a-half we boarded for Liberia, Costa Rica (upper left corner of map.) Now THAT was a nice flight. Though extremely tired (no sleep for 24 hours) I couldn’t really sleep. I was served a great meal (as far as plane food goes—salad, pork loin, and more champagne) and tried to watch most of the in-flight movie, which was Up in the Air with George Clooney. So far, not much different from an NY to Chicago flight. After soaring over the mountains and bush of Central America, I realized I was finally in a different part of the world. Thank God. And once we landed, that’s when things got interesting.