November 7, 2019:
It seemed improbable, but it actually happened: I won another free trip! At my yearly office Christmas party, a raffle was held for all company employees in which several peoples names were picked out of a hat and each winner was awarded a trip to any destination from our company’s website. Last year (Christmas 2017), my name was drawn and I was off to Norway with my cousin, Jeanna. This time around, lightning struck twice (against all odds), and I won another trip. This time, it was to Costa Rica and the lucky guest of honor to join me on this Central American odyssey would be my oldest cousin, Craig.
My flight would be from Newark Airport rather than JFK. That was not such a dealbreaker as getting from New York City to Newark was effortless thanks to the NJ Transit and the AirTrain. What was, however, the problem, was what happened at the ticket counter for my flight. The agent behind the counter was trying to check me in for my flight; my cousin and I had separate PNR (passenger name records) codes for the flight to San Jose. He had already checked in with his information and passport earlier. I, however, had gotten there later and had quite the panic attack when it was revealed that neither my name nor seat information was in the flight’s databank. Without a moment’s hesitation, I got on the horn and contacted my travel agency with the utmost emergency. Since my flight was leaving in less than two hours and international flights dictated that one should check in as early as possible, I was literally racing the clock. It was time for them to work their magic. I had seen them do this over the phone with panicked customers who were just steps away from checking in at their respective airports when my company would swoop in like the proverbial Superman and save their vacation. Since my agency were the ones who booked the trip, it was up to them to work it out with the airlines. It turned out that the airlines never got back to the agency and my flight was never confirmed on their [airlines] end. To say that I was a nervous wreck would be a gross understatement. I was suddenly thrust into what felt like a bad episode of The Amazing Race. Or at the very least, in the shoes of one of my potential customers who were stuck in what felt like a typical cliche. With some helpful negotiating courtesy of my supervisors, I was able to finagle my way onto flight by having to pay for a seat out of pocket with the promise of a full reimbursement upon return to New York. One credit card swipe and passport scan later, I was confirmed on the flight. My panicked episode was over. Now I could resume my vacation.
After what felt like a lengthy flight, another setback occurred upon arrival in San Jose. We had a bit of a delay before making our descent; we seemed to circle the airport before finally landing. Once we touched down, I saw what looked like police sirens flashing against the reflection of my window on the plane. They weren’t police sirens, but rather fire truck siren lights. One of the turbine engines on the plane had overheated and there was a small brigadier on the tarmac. Thankfully, no flames were present but we were stuck on the plane for about an hour or so before being allowed to disembark. Once on the tarmac, we shuffled our way through customs and began a scavenger of sorts for our bags. The only saving grace we had was when we rendezvoused with our tour-operator contact who flashed our names on a sign like a cabbie and directed us to our escort into San Jose. Finally, our long journey into Central America was nearly at its days end. We checked into to our hotel; a small, yet cozy place just outside downtown San Jose. Once I was through door, I cranked up the air conditioner and went right to sleep. No really, it was so hot outside!
