LAX to SJO

I got to the airport early to check in my stuff so I could help those with the boxes unload. I checked in no problem with a box. Mine was at 48lbs so I just made it by 2lbs. Katie, one of the two who had missed their flight last summer was there as well! I was glad to see it. I found a couple of those luggage carts and waited outside for the students. While I was waiting, a women pulls up and calls me over. I assumed it was a mother of one of the students as she spoke to me in Spanish. However, I soon realized she thought I worked for the airline/airport as a porter! I laughed pretty good and she was embarrassed. Everyone got there before 9 except Claudia. 

It’s always fun to see ten strangers interact at a terminal knowing full well in another week they will probably be life long friends. It happens every trip and I love seeing these once strangers now interact on Facebook sharing photos of vacations spent together, pics of people holding each other’s babies, etc. 

The flight was uneventful, and I even got about an hour or two of sleep. 

After we got our luggage, we had to clear customs at San Jose Airport. Basically it’s an x-ray machine. A bureaucrat with a walkie-talkie noticed all of the boxes and grew suspicious. He asked what we were carrying. When we told him shoes, he asked new or used (in Spanish of course). When we said used, he should his head and his finger at us in a school marm gesture. I could tell he was agitated. He told the guy at the x-ray machine who looked half asleep (it was not even 6am) to send us to a waiting area. I put my box on a table and he cut open the tape. When he saw all the shoes he sighed like a leaky tire and ran his fingers through his thinning hair. Claudia was there and he whispered to her in Spanish that we were not supposed to bring in used clothes, but he was going to allow us to proceed as long as we promised not ever do it again. Sure thing. The thought that we weren’t supposed to do this didn’t even cross my mind. I was so sleep deprived I didn't even stress about it. Our bus driver was waiting for us outside of customs.