Finding Our Way

© Bahugala

Stranger in a strange land. We were picked up and taken the home that would be our "home base" as we explored Costa Rica.

We met our host for the first time outside the airport in San Jose shortly after our plane landed around 11 p.m. A few days prior, I sent him a picture of me via email so that he knew for whom to look. Within thirty seconds of walking out into the warm, humid night, a man with a shaved head and a tarantula tattooed on his right bicep approached me.

"Are you Adam?" he asked, thankfully in English.

"Yeah," I said, "Are you Franco?"

And just like that, I had found my one and only contact in Costa Rica.

My brother and I loaded our packs into his jeep and he took us on an exhilarating cruise through the decrepit outskirts of San Jose on the way to our new home. I quickly learned that traffic laws do not apply in this part of the world as Franco passed one vehicle after another at blistering speeds on the wrong side of the double yellow. Franco nonchalantly chain smoked Derby Lights as he narrated the cruise like a tour guide, making us aware of which areas nearby are dangerous or drug infested. He also explained the corruption of authority in Costa Rica and gave us pointers on how to avoid trouble during our stay.

Franco drove us about forty minutes outside of San Jose up the side of foggy mountain, where we eventually pulled into the driveway of his ranch style home. He asked us to be quiet as he pulled back the curtain in the front doorway and showed us to our room, which shared a wall with the kitchen. It was furnished with a bed, a cot, a TV and plenty of shelf space. In addition, the room had a private bathroom with every amenity except a door.

Franco went to bed after giving us a few bottles of cold water, leaving my brother and me alone for the first time since we arrived in Costa Rica. Unsure of how soundproofed the walls were, we didn't say much as we unpacked our stuff, but it was clear that we both had one forefront question on our minds: What the hell are we doing here?

The unfamiliarity and slight uneasiness of the situation was exhilarating. In this moment, our total lack of preparation became a joke and we were forced to accept the fact that we had absolutely no idea of what would ensue in the next 25 days, or even the next few hours. With plenty of time for reflection at the end of our first night in our new home, the possibilities of this retreat were endless, ranging from beautiful to tragic. Regardless, I knew that this would be an experience that we wouldn't forget.

Stay tuned! We will be running Adam's Column, Winging it in Costa Rica, every week on RumBum.com.