The Feather Diaries: San José.

The plane landed and we ran through the wide halls of the San Jose airport, collected our backpacks and waited in line for customs. I was nervous even though you told me not to be, but the officer stamped my passport while he flirted with me and I wondered if he told all the girls they had nice smiles. We stepped outside into brilliant sunshine, shielded our eyes with melting hands, and cabbies yelled at us until we picked one. We climbed into a red cab and we all spoke in broken Spanish while the driver steered along a highway that looked a lot like the highways we have at home. Some kids shot a bird in a tree and you turned and looked at me while the driver kept talking and I nodded because I saw it happen and then it all disappeared behind us because we were driving so fast. Soon we were downtown and zig-zagging through a big, dirty city. There were a lot of people, darker than ourselves, going about their business, and many of the businesses were the same as ours back home even though they went by different names. We stopped in front of a building with a big blue door and a sign that read "Kap's Place". We got out of the cab, took our bags, paid the driver, rang a buzzer, and a staticky sounding man told us we could come in. We went through the big blue door and down a long colourful hallway that opened up into a small room with a desk with a Tico man smiling behind the counter and we both eyed a small refrigerator holding four kinds of beer to the right of the counter. I wanted a drink but paid for the reservation instead and we were taken to our room but we had to leave the way we came in. We walked down the street, turned the corner and then we went through a big red door that opened into a larger room with books, couches and chairs, computers and walls painted bright colours and a floor of bright tiles. Our room was small and dark but had a private bathroom and we were happy that we didn't have to share with the other guests. We thanked the man and threw our bags on the floor and threw ourselves onto the bed and fell asleep. We woke up at ten but were too tired to eat or do anything else so we slept until the morning. We missed a free breakfast so went out looking for it along the streets of San Jose. We walked and walked until our feet hurt and our stomachs were full of coffee and pastries. We vibrated along the sun-soaked avenues snapping pictures of new birds and old buildings and felt nostalgic for Arizona when we heard the white-winged doves. We stopped in some places to look at huge squirrels and decipher new noises, we ran across streets, wiped our foreheads, learned new words, said new phrases, pulled at our shirts to let the heat escape but it didn't help. The day spun away and the sun began to set. We watched peregrine falcons on a tall radio tower but then it was dark and we walked under warm streetlamps looking for yet another place to eat. We ate fish and rice and beans and plantains and learned new Spanish words and we swore we'd speak as much Spanish as we could even though we knew we wouldn't. We left the restaurant and I had no idea where we were or how to get back to the hostel but you did so I followed you. A dog chased us and I got scared but you protected me. We made it back but it was still early so we chose a few beers from the refrigerator next to the check-in desk and drank them in the common area while we wrote to our families to say we were safe. I finished my Imperial and stared at a glistening Christmas tree covered in blue and purple tinsel a little too long and my eyes got heavy so we went back to our room and slept until the morning. We packed our bags and ate free breakfast because we woke up before ten. We hailed a cab that took us to the bus depot because buses were cheaper than renting cars. We bought tickets to Tamarindo and you told me it was a surfer town on the Pacific Ocean. I got excited on the way there and thought about how cold it was at home and how far away we were and how happy I was to be here with you. I felt sick so you told me to lay my head on your shoulder and close my eyes and it helped. We stopped at a gas station and everyone got off the bus but I stayed and saved our seats while you bought ice cream. You shared your ice cream but I didn't eat too much. The road snaked through the hills, the sky got dark and the people grew quiet and we whispered about how much we loved Costa Rica and how much we hated dogs.