Tequila Right!

Today we traveled to El Rio Pacuare for our whitewater rafting trip. This river’s tumultuous rapids and picturesque virgin rainforest surroundings made the sets for Jurassic Park and Congo possible, among others. But, the sheer rock gorges, waterfalls, and dense greenery were hard to admire for long on account of the class III-IV rapids.

Our guide for the bus ride from San Jose and then my guide on the boat, Paulo, was a polar opposite the stereotype of the “laid-back” Costa Rican. With somewhat of a napoleon complex and some harbored bitterness against the United States (thank you, “Senor Boosh”), he made for an entertaining, if volatile, guide.

Paulo is the leader of the rafting operation. He also is the most experienced and was not afraid to say so. He requested the most “hardcore” group to go with him and, being who you all know I am, I was the first to raise my hand. Oops. By the end of the trip, I was ready to give it up and take my chances with Charybdis.

One of the eight maneuvers that had to be performed upon a moment’s notice explains the intensity. Tequila Right is a maneuver designed to keep the upturning water in front of a boulder from flipping the boat when broad siding it from the right side. The three passengers on the left side must loosen his feet from the straps and fly across toward the boulder side and brace the side of the raft between the right side passengers. When Tequila is called on the opposite side (away from the boulder), the raft flips violently and the river becomes a yard sale of paddles and shoes (very funny, Paulo).

Situation Normal: All Fogged Up

My flight into Atlanta was scheduled to be the latest flight in last night- but as it turns out, nearly half of the program arrived later. A thick sheet of fog rolled over Costa Rica yesterday causing earlier flights to be diverted to Panama City and Liberia because visibility was nil. After my simulator experience, I have a new found appreciation for manual landing of an aircraft.

Fortunately, my pilot was either extremely talented or sufficiently insane to be flying the only plane that landed between 8 PM and midnight. Three unfortunate groups included: Liberia 1, Panama City, and Liberia 2 (respectively, in order of misfortune). Liberia 1 was diverted from San Jose Intl. Airport and redirected to Liberia, refueled and then retried the approach successfully to arrive to the airport at 12AM, and the homestays at 2. Panama City had a similar experience, but because of the extra distance, finally arrived to the homestays at 5AM. Keep in all participants were supposed to be settled in by 9:30 PM. The last group, Liberia 2 suffered two roller coaster-like approach attempts into San Jose, two false alarm take offs from Liberia, and finally a long bus ride to San Jose only to get to school at around 9 AM (missing out on 12 hours, 1 nights sleep, and meeting host families).

Unrelated, but suspiciously ominous when considered together, our first day of class was cut short by an explosive computer projector and an extremely unstable projector screen. Don't worry, 32 screwdriver weilding engineers dismantled and diagnosed the late projector in no time.

The Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Atlanta Program

So I landed in Atlanta and hurried to my connecting gate across a concourse and rail system only to find, much to my chagrin, that I should have checked the flight time before bypassing the food court. I had just embarked on a 6 hour and 55 minute layover (EDIT: due to delays, this turned into an 8 hour layover). I realized I must have signed up for the Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Atlanta program.

Fortunately, just a short bus ride away, my Uncle Monty works at Delta Headquarters. After paying the exorbitant airport WiFi fee, I was able to get in contact with him by email and let him know I needed him to entertain me. Did he ever! What better way to entertain a young tech-junky engineer than to let him fly a $20 million flight simulator?

"Thank you for flying Delta airlines, with your captain A.J. Rogers. The temperature at Hartsfield International Airport is 89 degrees Fahrenheit and the local time is 5:05 PM. Please use caution when opening the over-head compartments as your luggage has almost certainly shifted during the turbulent landing. On behalf of Delta, we would like to apologize for all neck injuries sustained and offer free peanuts as a token of our appreciation for your business. Enjoy your stay in Atlanta or wherever your travels may take you."

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