Lair Davis (Our Man in Costa Rica)

Leavin’ on a Jet Plane

At 7 in the morning, Lucy will drive me to San Francisco International for my flight to retirement in Costa Rica. Warm and charming David Calderon will meet me at the airport and drive me to the Apart-Hotel Roma in Heredia, where I will live for at least my first month while I attend immersion Spanish school.

Perhaps I will continue to live in the province of Heredia after I complete my month of study, but I’m not sure. I have visited many parts of Costa Rica, but visiting a place and living there are not the same thing. There are several places where I might settle down for a few weeks to see how I like it. I’ll rent a bodega (a small storage unit) where I can leave my possessions while I galavant about the country a bit.

Tonight I am rambling around in a stripped and nearly empty apartment. I took my final walk along the beach here in Santa Cruz a short while ago. My last walk on a beach in California — ever.

There have been many “lasts” in the past week. My last pizza at Engfer’s in Seabright. My last meal at Charlie Hong Kong. I just heard the screams come floating on the wind — for the last time — from the rollercoaster at the Boardwalk, the amusement park on the beach here in Santa Cruz, just across the San Lorenzo River from where I will soon spend my last night in the United States (at least, for a while).

One could get sentimental talking like this. Maudlin, even. But let’s not! There is just too much excitement ahead. No time now to look back. I can always reminisce when I get old!