Public Bus Experience

I spent the longest day yesterday attempting to take the public bus from San Jose to Flamingo. It should’ve never been this hard, but regardless, in total, I spent 12 ½ hours trying to take a 5 hour bus ride. I was too tired to write out a real entry last night, so here is my time schedule from yesterday. (I had plenty of time to figure it out in the bus terminal).

A.M.
3:30- Wake up to take group to airport after 2 ½ of sleep
4:00- Bus arrives to take everyone and luggage
4:15- Frantic search for the security guard to turn in keys
4:20- Near heart attack when the security guard appears behind a bush
4:30- Leave for airport
4:50- Say goodbyes to everyone (and Team JAJA) and help unload luggage for kids
5:30- Return to CPI to await a ride to the public bus terminal in San Jose at 7:00 (bus leaves for Flamingo at 8:00 a.m.)
7:30- Chauffeur arrives late to take me to the bus terminal- so we improvise.
8:10- I am left alongside an 8 lane highway at a ‘bus stop’
8:11- Bus passes that I need to take, my chauffeur doesn’t see it and says it wasn’t the right bus…it was.
8:12- Chauffeur leaves and I hang out with the locals
8:15- Horn honking and cat-calling begins from passersby
9:37- Second bus goes blazing past in the outside lane. I wave frantically to no avail
9:45- Calls begin to the main office about what to do
9:51- Main office calls the bus company and the bus company promises that the 10:30 bus will stop for me
10:38- Third bus goes roaring past. I am in the highway flailing both arms. It doesn’t stop.
10:45- Calls to the main office to find out what I should do. I am supposed to be in Flamingo by 1 p.m. Not going to happen
11:30- Seven phone calls later, I am flagging down a taxi to take me to the real terminal in San Jose
11:53- Cab driver tries to rip me off because he got lost. I only pay him part of the fare. He’s not happy. Neither am I.
11:58- I run to the bus terminal after consulting a policeman and 2 taxi drivers on how to get there only to find the noon bus is full.

P.M.
12:02- I buy a ticket for the 2 p.m. bus to Santa Cruz
12:45- I change my ticket to take the 3 p.m. directly to Flamingo.
1:00- I become intrigued by the Spanish soap opera on TV. for the next 2 hours
2:45- If you can’t beat them, join them. I partake in the Costa Rican custom of not forming lines in order to get my suitcase under the bus. Seemed to work well enough.
3:00- Bus departs
3:05- I am asleep.
8:35- I arrive in Flamingo with a less than accommodating bus driver.
8:40- I finally arrive at my hotel room.
9:15- I am asleep.

I was nervous that something would go wrong before leaving yesterday, and thankfully nothing did. I just played the waiting game all day. Tomorrow, I am taking a bus to Liberia to pick up Kristen from the airport. If this goes badly, I am paying the fare to have Kristen return to the airport in a taxi. No questions. I don’t care what it costs. : )

Anyway, I am alive and well. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I’ve learned my lesson though—never let people improvise for you when it comes to the public bus, just go to the main terminal and wait for the next bus if you’re going to miss the first one.

Time to go to work for the day,

Amor y sueños,
Jessica Lynn