12:00 pm at the aeroporte, i used an express self-service check in machine to print out my boarding pass. after val arrived, we said our goodbyes to those we´d be leaving and dragged our big backpacks through the doors. check in went by smoothly. my mother gave me 50 cents to give her a call before we boarded. i pulled on the phone cord by accident and hung up on her after she said hi. we had to call again. the vuelo (flight) had small tvs in the middle of the aisle and played a no name movie. we passed the time by taking pictures, doing cryptograms and other mensa puzzles. it was a turbulent flight and we had to wait a long time for the seat belt sign to disappear (so we could pee).
5:15 pm our next connecting flight in Miami was at puerto (gate) E21. It was a 15 minute walk with a little shuttle service that looked like a mini subway above ground between buildings. we were starving because our flight only gave us free drinks. we had personal pepperoni pizzas and bread sticks from Pizza Hut. we sat by a plug to charge val's camera while we are dinner. after, i picked up some citrus tic tacs. we did more cryptograms to pass time. our estimated boarding time was 7:50 pm, flight at 8:20 pm. our flight got delayed three times, then got transferred to gate D43 (close to where we got off the plane). we took the shuttle back and retraced our steps for another 15 minutes. i bought a fill-in puzzle book to add to our collection of time wasters. we napped too. before boarding, i put on my contacts. we were schedule to leave at 10:45 pm but the plane did not take off until midnight.
1:30 am the captain announced that there was an aircraft incident at the San Jose airport. they had closed their one runway for the night. we were to return to Miami where agents waited for us. they said all passengers would be accommodated and put on a flight the next morning.
3:30 am collect call to my mother. the airline said this wasn't their fault and gave us vouchers to stay at a hotel for 120 a room and a 1-800 number to rebook our flight. the earliest i was able to book was for 8:20 pm the next day. we went to baggage claim for our stuff and then we stood in a long line to be checked in. when we got to the counter, they turned us away. the man said we couldn't check in until 5 hours before our flight and he couldn't give us an earlier one. there was no where else to go so we sat by a wall to wait for 3 pm. i brushed my teeth and had a crosswich from Burger King.
6:00 am some girls from Holland that took the same 2141 flight to Costa Rica told us they were able to get an 8 am flight with another airline. I called and was given a confirmation number for a flight to Atlanta at 7:05 am and connecting flight to get to San Jose at noon. the check in line was too long and we were not given priority. by the time we reached the desk, it was 6:24 am and the lady said it wouldn't be enough time. however, she was very helpful and thorough. we left with two standby direct flights to San Jose and a reservation for 2:30 pm with another airline that would take us to San Jose for 11 pm (9 pm San Jose time). we went through another security check, then walked to gate E11. we pulled the chairs close to the window ledge and curled up for a nap.
9:00 am the cold woke me up. val's face had sleep lines all over it. we're waiting for our names to be called to board. they just asked for 6 volunteers to give up their seat for a 800 dollar transportation voucher. i saw this lady's Martin. it was very pretty.
10: 35 pm we're off to D33 to standby for the 12:35 pm flight. the airplane is smaller, but less overbooked.
12:30 pm no go. i'm the poster girl for the movie "The Terminal 2". we have reservations for a 2:30 pm flight on Delta to Atlanta, a 2 hour layover, then a connecting flight to San Jose. The tickets were not transferred, but we got boarding passes in the end. the flight is so soon, our baggage may not reach the plane in time.
1:30 pm we called home and apparently the 10:35 pm and 12:25 pm flight we were on standby for were still in Miami. the Atlanta flight is on time right now, but who knows how long we might have to wait to get to Costa Rica. i'm glad we got to eat/walk around the gate instead of sit for three hours on the airplane parked at the airport. i was peeing and the cleaning lady swept her straw broomstick halfway into my stall and left wet streaks.
6:45 pm we got our seat requests confirmed with new boarding passes plane is on time. Henry knows that we're coming and a shuttle bus should take us to the hostel.
9:00 pm this flight was the best we had so far. we had dinner, movie (fool's gold) and super soft blankets. we arrived on time, but our luggage didn't show up, so we filed a report and hopefully we'll get it soon. we went through customs and waited for our shuttle outside. this taxi driver almost got us into his van, but i asked him what colour his taxi was (official ones are orange) and he wouldn't tell us the answer. we told him we weren't interested, but he kept bothering us. we almost called a taxi, but we saw a man with the hostel pangea sign and we were so relieved.
10:00 pm we got to the hostel. it's a bit far from the airport, but apparently right in the middle of San Jose. the area is very sketchy. it doesn't look like downtown of the capital of a country. we went through the situation and options with Henry. he's going to ask about our luggage tomorrow morning with American Airlines and then come tell us what's going to happen. Gandoca is 7 hours away and we will not leave to the reserve without our luggage.
11:00 pm our room is nice. it has a lock on it. double bed with an attached bathroom. we emptied our bags to see what we had. val had a toothbrush with toothpaste and contact solution. we both had towels. i had two pairs of clean underwear, 2 pairs of socks, 2 t-shirts and 2 pairs of shorts (i packed clothes for the hostel stay). no shampoo or soap. no flip flops. we used our blankets in between the sheets because they looked dirty. we decided not to use the pillows and took a case to use as a bathroom feet towel. we took a shower and shared the clean clothes between us.
12:30 pm bedtime.
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