Costa Rica!
So I'm now in Costa Rica--have been since Friday, actually. Friday was...not fun...starting with getting up at 3:30AM to get to the airport by 5:00AM to catch a seven o'clock flight.
TSA was surprisingly not horrible, however, since we got to leave the computers in the bag and our shoes on. The TSA agent was going up and down the line, saying "Leave everything in your bags! Leave your shoes on!" I set the cat carrier (which looks like a standard carry-on) on the table and started to open it up and she came up and started to tell me again to leave everything in the bag until I told her, "I know I have to take the cat out of the bag." She agreed, saying that was different. So I carried Cleo though the metal detector and the woman in line behind me said "I thought you were joking about letting the cat out of the bag!" Cleo had a lot of fans in security, as she majestically (and very calmly) surveyed her new domain from my arms. TSA x-rayed the carrier and verified the lack of metal in me and the cat, then swiped my hands for chemical residue. They declined my offer to let them swipe the cat's paws. *grin*
We got to the hotel in San Jose around 3PM Central time, so twelve hours or so after leaving the house at 4AM Eastern time. It's been slightly chilly here, low 70s during the day and high 60s at night, but SOOO much better than the -5F we had in Ohio a week ago. Casa Lima B&B (near the American Embassy) is a wonderful place to stay, and didn't even mind surprise!cat when the reservation service failed to pass on our (repeated!) statements about Cleo. Cleo has been staying in our room to avoid Casa Lima's resident felines, Sunshine and Boots, but she doesn't seem to mind.
In a couple of hours we'll be seeing the apartment where we'll be staying for the next three months--assuming the apartment is as-advertised, of course, since we rented it sight-unseen. But it should be fine--the worst any of the reviews had to complain about was the man selling eggs on the street every day, calling "Huevos! Huevos!", and we've also considered the huevos guy a plus rather than a minus.
TSA was surprisingly not horrible, however, since we got to leave the computers in the bag and our shoes on. The TSA agent was going up and down the line, saying "Leave everything in your bags! Leave your shoes on!" I set the cat carrier (which looks like a standard carry-on) on the table and started to open it up and she came up and started to tell me again to leave everything in the bag until I told her, "I know I have to take the cat out of the bag." She agreed, saying that was different. So I carried Cleo though the metal detector and the woman in line behind me said "I thought you were joking about letting the cat out of the bag!" Cleo had a lot of fans in security, as she majestically (and very calmly) surveyed her new domain from my arms. TSA x-rayed the carrier and verified the lack of metal in me and the cat, then swiped my hands for chemical residue. They declined my offer to let them swipe the cat's paws. *grin*
We got to the hotel in San Jose around 3PM Central time, so twelve hours or so after leaving the house at 4AM Eastern time. It's been slightly chilly here, low 70s during the day and high 60s at night, but SOOO much better than the -5F we had in Ohio a week ago. Casa Lima B&B (near the American Embassy) is a wonderful place to stay, and didn't even mind surprise!cat when the reservation service failed to pass on our (repeated!) statements about Cleo. Cleo has been staying in our room to avoid Casa Lima's resident felines, Sunshine and Boots, but she doesn't seem to mind.
In a couple of hours we'll be seeing the apartment where we'll be staying for the next three months--assuming the apartment is as-advertised, of course, since we rented it sight-unseen. But it should be fine--the worst any of the reviews had to complain about was the man selling eggs on the street every day, calling "Huevos! Huevos!", and we've also considered the huevos guy a plus rather than a minus.