Graduation Day

I finished my Spanish class today:




At lunch time, I went to San Pedro Mall to the Banco de Costa Rica to pay the impuesto de salida (exit tax) of $28. Yes, you have to pay to leave the country! I've talked about the banks before, but I am still amazed at how different they are than the U.S. banks. An armed security guard opened the locked door to let me in, scanned me for weapons and looked in my backpack. I entered some information on a big computer screen that indicated the number of transactions I wanted (just one, thank you), picked up the ticket, and then took a seat. Kesa came in to pay her tax and sat beside me. I asked the security guard how long he thought I'd wait. 20 minutes. Not too bad. I had an hour for lunch before having to return for my last hour of class today.

Much like in the driver's licensing centers in Washington State, I watched the screen for my number to come up. A man behind me offered me a ticket with a lower number. I don't know how he ended up with two, but he was giving one away. I pointed out that I only had one transaction and his ticket was for more than one. He assured me it would be fine and I could just apologize and feign ignorance. So I waited to see which of my numbers would come up first. Just like those licensing centers in the U.S., it was not a straight numbering system, but rather, a combination of letters and numbers. Everytime it looked close to my number (A63), they would switch to say E46 or Z75. Eventually my number came up and it was the number the man gave me! I gave my original number to Kesa so she could move up in line and then I walked to the teller window. Paying the tax was simple and didn't take too long. However, I did notice that the bank teller took a few moments to check her makeup with a mirror in her purse before going to pick up my certificate from the printer.

After lunch I finished my class and said my thank you's and good-bye's. It was an odd feeling to walk away from my school, a combination of excitement that I'm done, but sadness to say good-bye. That day-after-high-school- graduation feeling: the big world awaits and I'm on my own now.

I bugged out of San Jose by 2:45 today to avoid a nasty rush hour commute on that infernal bus! It was raining hard. As I waited at the bus stop, a bus passed me by and shot water that was running down the side of the road all over me. I really had to laugh. What made me think I could get home dry today?

The school's shuttle will pick Kesa and me up at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning to take us to the airport. It has been a wonderful experience to be in Costa Rica. I have learned and experienced a lot. I've met some very nice people and only one jerk (from a country that a certain type of waffles are named after). The natural beauty of Costa Rica is amazing. I will always treasure my time here.

Next stop: U.S.A.!