It is day two in Costa Rica. So I can officially say that we’ve made it. We started off a bit rough though.
We arrived at the airport around 4 am. As we attempted to check ourselves in, we all received tickets saying we needed assistance to go any further. It turns out that because we didn’t buy a returning flight back to the states, the airline wasn’t allowed to let us board the plane. They didn’t want us to overstay our welcome. As our whole squad and squad leaders sat on the floor of the airport, our logistics team (Victoria and Ben) and the nicest airport employee, scrambled to buy bus tickets on a website that was completely in Spanish. The only proof of their purchase was a page that said, “Thank you, we will contact you soon.” We could now prove that we would be leaving the country. With the persistence of the airport employee, she was finally able to convince her boss to approve us to board the plane.
By 8ish am we were finally all checked in. Except for one, Brandon. For some reason his ticket was under his passport number but not the correct name. As a couple people stayed behind to figure it all out. The rest of us scrambled through security so that we could grab anything to eat before our flight, mind you our flight was at 8:45am. On top of the time crunch, and the confusion, our plane had been downgraded to a smaller plane and some people were potentially not going to be able to catch that flight. We were determined to get to the terminal as quick as possible so we wouldn’t be those selected people. As we all quickly shoved food down our faces, boarded the plane and found our seats, we finally saw our teammate Brandon making his way down the aisle. Our whole team cheered with excitement. All 34 of us made it on the plane and were finally heading to the long awaited Costa Rica.
After a 5 hour plane ride, we made it. My team, Dauntless, grabbed a taxi and headed to the bus station that was around 30 minutes away. After that we bought bus tickets and headed out on a 5 hour drive towards Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. On the bus, we met two guys from Florida that were on vacation after graduating that year. We played card games together for a couple of hours, but slowly drifted apart as they continued to take swigs from a bottle. We arrived in town around 9:20ish pm. Brittany and I went on a search for an ATM, which didn’t let us take any money out. Luckily the taxi accepted USD.
Though it was completely dark out and we couldn’t see much, you could hear the waves crashing on the beach behind us. We could already tell that we were in a magical place.
A lady named Glenda greeted us. Glenda’s husband, Rolando, and her were the owners of the hotel we are staying at, and are also our hosts for our stay in Costa Rica. Glenda showed us to our own private “bungalow” and as we settled in she was cooking us dinner. She brought over delicious coconut rice, beans, and her traditional Jamaican style chicken. It was so simple yet amazingly delicious and it wasn’t just because we were starving. We chatted for a bit, then said our goodnights and parted ways.
That night our team moved around our new home overwhelmed with how amazing it was and how lucky we had it. We have our own kitchen, shower and bathroom. According to previous WR stories we have heard, we have it really, really good. We have our own little oasis in the middle of the beautiful beach town of Puerto Viejo. Did I mention that the beach is less then 5min away from us? So basically we have the beach for a backyard. Talk about life goals being met.
We are looking forward to talking with the people at out ministry site. We understand that we will be part of the House of Restoration Community Outreach program.
I can’t tell you how overwhelmed and surreal this all still is to me. I’m not sure I’ve fully realized that this is all really happening. My World Race adventure has finally started. It was only possible because of God’s vision for my life and the love and support of all of you amazing people. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me, and this crazy dream of mine. I truly couldn’t be doing this without all of you. So again thank you, thank you. I don’t believe that I’ll ever be able to express how truly grateful I am for this gift you are giving me.
It has never been easy for me to step back and to rely on others for help. This experience has been extremely humbling to see all that God is showing me throughout my fundraising. I’m so happy and relieved to say that I am currently 57% funded. If you feel you are being lead, please consider donating to my dream of helping others, and achieve my next fundraising goal. Again thank you all so much for your support. I couldn’t have gotten this far without you.
