Costa Rica and Philadelphia: #Winning and Losing

 My good buddy Tyler Dodge and I, in front of an erupting Poas Volcano in Costa Rica!

Good evening from Washington DC (and continued from Boston Logan International Airport, and posted from Miami)!

I have some down time this evening, and since the wireless at the best hostel ever is being finicky, I’m writing a blog post on Word so I can just upload it when I get the chance.

Okay, so here’s what’s happened so far: the start of the current trip was delayed by an hour or two, apparently for mechanical reasons, because JetBlue emailed me a $25 credit after the flight. By the way, that’s a total of $80 in credit I’ve been given since the start of the pass, so that should factor into my end of trip travel costs as well.

I was very tired getting into Costa Rica. However, I did manage to have some great luck on the red eye, when I hit upon the jackpot/holy grail of having the entire row of three seats to myself, which meant I could lie down. That helped, but I still probably only got two hours of sleep.

So yeah, it was a long journey to get to San Jose, but I am really glad that I did it. I met Tyler and his mom about 45 minutes after my flight landed, and we eventually headed downtown using a taxi. My Spanish skills were already picking up, but it was hard because I was tired and it had been a while. Eventually, though, I was able to have actual conversations with people, which was great! Speaking another language is so empowering and fun. I really want to invest more time into learning more Espanol.

Once we got into San Jose, we settled in and enjoyed the surroundings. The first day was the only real time in rained very hard, and the rest of the week was great! It made for good walking/running around weather as Tyler and I explored the city and the countryside. Here are a few pictures:

The Estadio Nacional, where the Costa Rican soccer team plays. Apparently China built this for Costa Rica and it just opened. Looked great.

Some ants in a line, carrying leaf bits in La Sabana park.

The Circuito Powerade, a run through the park that Tyler and I did on my last full day in San Jose. An unforgettable 6.5 KM!

The view from the workout center next door to our hotel, checking out downtown San Jose.

The Natural Sciences Museum de Salle had a TON of animal specimens, and was great for a report Tyler needed to write.

Tyler in front of the Costa Rican flag. A true Tico lover now!

Coffee is a fruit, apparently! These unpeeled fruits at Tres Generaciones looked like Skittles to me.

Rows of coffee drying in the sun.

An exploding volcano! This is Poas Volcano, and I think that is steam. It did smell like sulfur!

You know, not every day that you can stand with an erupting volcano right behind you.

Macaws are magnificent creatures.

Tree frog that reminded me of my old Ranger Rick magazines.

The biggest of the La Paz waterfalls.

With Tyler’s mom, Diane, outside the hotel. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you! I had a blast!

So yeah, that was Costa Rica. A lot of fun in the sun, walking around, going to the markets, running in the park, exploring the city, trying to talk to everyone in Spanish and mostly succeeding, going on a tour, enjoying the food, and admiring the beauty of the country and its people. A great five days.

Next, it was back to the US and Boston, via Orlando. Since I don’t need to have the US Customs form filled out anymore due to GlobalEntry, I decided to have some fun with it on the plane:

Hehe. Yeah, it was nerdy. I mean, there are some elements there that only a truly crazed Star Wars fan would know of.

Anyway, I didn’t get to enjoy the full Global Entry experience, as I had to declare the coffee that I brought back for friends and family, and thus, have to fill out the actual form again, haha. Still, I got to skip the line (that wouldn’t have been a long wait anyway), and also got another US passport stamp that I wouldn’t have received if I hadn’t declared the coffee. So overall, good first trial.

My friend Max met me in Boston and I spent another night of blissful sleep in Hingham, where his house is, before heading right back to the airport with him in the morning. His family got a nice big bag of Costa Rican coffee for helping me out during these required stopovers on BluePass! Really great.

Next, it was a fun travel day: car to the airport, fly to Washington DC, Metro train to Union Station, MegaBus to Philadelphia, then SEPTA trains to the hostel and back out to the stadium for Monday Night Football. It was a lot, and I was hopeful my efforts would pay off with an Eagles win. Alas, it did not, as they lost to the Chicago Bears 30-24, and cost me $20 to my brother’s favorite charity – Partners in Health – as a result. Still, I did get to see Steve Young, Stuart Scott, Trent Dilfer, Michael Wilbon, and Rick Reilly on the set of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, and there were also a few great points in the game where we went ahead and I got to yell the E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES chant with the rest of the crowd.

 Love the big flags at sporting events. Fireworks were a nice touch too.

Steve Young warming up his arm with Stuart Scott (who couldn't throw at all), with Trent Dilfer, Rick Reilly, and Michael Wilbon looking on. That's a good deal of talent, right there!

It was a long day, and a quick night, as I was back to the hostel around 1 AM. Luckily, Tuesday was a relaxed travel day and my MegaBus back to Washington DC didn’t leave until noon. So when I woke up (the loud British young men who had kept me up the night before as they stumbled in drunk were also remarkably effective at getting up early and also shouting to each other), I headed back to 30^th Street Station and then enjoyed the ride back through the beautiful fall foliage along the way.

Once in DC I ran some errands (like getting more toothpaste and shampoo), and walked around a bit to get dinner. Then, I settled in at the hostel, wrote a bit and did FaceBook photo captions for the Costa Rica album, and headed to sleep.

 In DC, I saw what I believe to be Marine One, the President's helicopter, fly right over my head. No idea if President Obama was on board, but it headed right for the vicinity of the White House.

Now, I’m in Boston’s airport, typing away at UFood Grill, which is by far the best option for eating in Terminal A. I have had four hours here, and next it is off to Fort Lauderdale to get to Miami tonight. I am VERY excited about this, but a little concerned about all the transit connections I need to do once I land, because Fort Lauderdale is about 30 miles north of Miami. I’m sure it will be worth the effort once I get to South Beach and the Deco Walk hostel tonight.

Update: I'm now typing from Deco Walk hostel, which is definitely the hippest hostel I've been to (Apple Hostel in Philadelphia comes close, but no other hostel I've been to has a full bar right by the entrance, haha). Incredible location in South Beach - worth the more than three hours it took to get here from Fort Lauderdale Airport (wow, that is not going to be a fun reverse trip on Friday). Once I got in, I had fun walking along the beach and grabbing some quick Cuban food (best believe I'm eating all Cuban here), from Puerto Sagua. SO GOOD. Wow. Loved it. I also have just enjoyed walking along the street near the beach - Ocean Drive, which is hopping. Plenty of music, really good looking people, food, cultures, and good vibes. Reminds me of a more happening Waikiki.

Anyway, there's the long overdue blog. Tomorrow I'll spend the day walking all around South Beach and taking in the sites and sounds. On Friday, it will be up early to get to Fort Lauderdale airport by noon for my flight up to Boston and on to San Francisco for the biggest game of the year in the Pac-12 Conference - Oregon vs. Stanford! Woo hoo!

That’s it for now! Thanks for following along! Remember that you can get much more timely updates through my Twitter page, at: http://twitter.com/lukefritz64

Have a great day!