I've been in Costa Rica for a few days now. I have been settling in at Serendipity, which turns out to be way more than just a company. I am living in a true palace, Casa Volare (I am flying), complete with surrounding windows and a view to die for. Costa Rica lies on the continental divide. The mountains bend and fold through the country, creating steep winding roads, deep river valleys, and wide open skies.
I was lucky to pass through customs without a hickup. They didn't search any of my things on the way into the country, and just waved me through without a second thought. The airport was as expected: hot, congested, full of taxi drivers and buses eager to push their services on the weary traveler. Once the flood of new arrivals came through the gate, the taxi drivers and street vendors backed off the gate, chatted to each other, smiled. Everyone in Costa Rica is always smiling.
About an hour later Tucker picked me up at the airport in Rosita, a red landrover infamous in Costa Rica. We zipped off to the market for some food before heading out of San Jose to the Turrialba area. Driving through San Jose may have been the craziest experience yet. There are no lines marking the 4-6 lanes of the main streets, and traffic laws are observed as mere suggestions of conduct. Basically, its a free-for-all. We zipped through the traffic with little regard for the hundreds of people, cars, animals, and bustle of the city. As Tucker explained, "You don't need to be scared, our car is bigger. They WILL yield."
Tucker is an impressive woman. She runs numerous companies, employs an amazing number of people, and does it all from her balcony overlooking the Turrialba valley. She loves people and good stories. She has crossed paths with many famous people in her life including the Kennedy family, Pink Floyd, and others, and has done it all through her love of hot air ballooning. Talking with her, you would never know the power she commands through her ideas, entrepreneurial spirit, and kindheartedness.
On my first night in Costa Rica, we arrived at Casa Volare just after dark. When we pulled in to the car port, I noticed smoke coming from the hood of the car. Tucker smiled knowingly and told me that it wasn't the car, but rather, we were in a cloud. Each evening, when the air cools, the clouds drop from the sky and fall into the Turrialba valley. 5 minutes later the cloud was below the house, and I was able to look out on a white blanket covering the valley. It was too dark to see the volcanoes or the valley; simply the moon reflecting off the clouds. Five more minutes passed and the clouds had dropped below Turrialba. An entire city came into view as the hundred of lights in the town peaked through the settling clouds.
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Tucker sent me on a mission into Turrialba yesterday with Wilbur, a non-English speaking Tico who serves as a chauffeur for the company. Through his patience and my poor spanish, we managed to communicate and run some errands. At each stop, the vendors we encountered shook our hands and passed with a friendly "Pura Vida,' or "Que paso." The light attitude fills the streets alongside the poorly remixed American music and the constant whistling of men at the passing women.
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