Episode 7: Costa Rica Part 1: Lucky Traveling and My Job as a Hairdresser

I went to bed at midnight, Wednesday night, and woke up at 0130.... Feeling rested and ready to head off to the land of coffee and exotic fruit and plant exports, aka Costa Rica. We were told that the gate opened at 0300. Since our flight left at 0550, and it was an international flight, we needed to check in at 0250 (3 hrs in advance)..... You do the math. The Taca airlines people opened their gate a little early, which was so nice of them, as they were dealing with what comes closest to how I imagine a zombie would, actually, look. Brave souls, they are. The check in was smooth and I got to pick my seat, window or aisle. SCORE!!! Window, puhlease!!! My elation was soon batted down when she said, smilingly, "You're all set! The security gate will open at 0445, and you board at 0520. Have. A wonderful flight." Sounds ok, right? It was great customer service, yes, until I looked and saw that the clock said... 0307.... Tell me why I had to be here at 0300, again? Somebody? Anybody? I'm a walking zombie here, very hungry and ready to kill for coffee.... People, I faded fast. It is ok, I requested, to those in my immediate surroundings, that it would be lovely if they could do me the service of notifying me if I am drooling.
Awake and drooling, bloodshot eyes, delirium sets in, suddenly I'm feeling the way I do when I've had too much to drink (No alcohol was consumed at that time, but I am currently indulging in a Mid-air free beverage. It has been titled, the Howling Monkey.... Vodka and strawberry-banana juice. Even tastier due to its freeness). So in my delusional zombie state, I've, seemingly, had too many drinks and I am in that scene in Bridesmaids where Kristin Wiig is drunk on the plane calling the flight attendant "Stove....." I am suddenly giggling to myself. This solicited weird, oh she has lost it looks, however, no one said anything because I only asked them to tell me if I started drooling, I forgot to mention, if I start giggling spontaneously, call in professional help.
I am not going to lie. I was towards the beginning of the group of people I am traveling with, and, after the guy checked my passport and boarding pass, I took off in a jog, hi-fiving all of the people from my group in line.... Hey, it was early, and I was delirious. Isn't a happy hi-five better than glaring at everyone??? I was rallying the troops!
I would like to say, I seem to have pretty good luck with traveling (knock on wood!!!). When I went to Europe in the fall, I managed to have the 3 seats next to me open. So awesome. On this trip, it was a 3 seater and I was by the.... WINDOW (that's right, kudos to you for paying attention!), with another young lady on the aisle.... Guess what?!?! No one in between. YES! Let me just say, I got approximately, 3hrs of serious intermittent sleep. The plane ride was only 4.5 hrs. The rest of the time I read my book and worked on this blog, but that's boring. However, I did get some nice snacks and a Howling Monkey bev, named by moi (see above if you have already forgotten about that). I have a picture below.
One last thing for this 1st Costa Rica post, and please know that any of you who are in the medical field will understand this.... I assure you, the rest will find the following statements mortifying. Here goes: sometimes when I'm on vacation, I like to pretend I'm not a nurse. Most of the time I play off that I am a makeup artist or hairstylist (clearly struggling) with minimal knowledge of the medical field. Let me assure you, my knowledge would immediately reappear if I felt a medical situation was not under control, or that the girl had more than just a bloody nose. But, sometimes, though I love my job, I just want to be a Ginger on Vacation. Is that ok? Now, that being said, this vacation to Costa Rica is partly about being a nurse and and learning about the healthcare situation of a country other than my own. But when I am on my kayak, daydreaming on the beach, or sailing down that zip line, my alterego makeup artist self is present and ready for another Howling Monkey!!!!