Do you know the way to San José?

So, I've finished the first part of my journey. The physical journey anyway.

The taxi was booked to bring me to the airport at 3am, and right up until then was spent cleaning my pigsty of a house, because my parents said they'd be visiting while I was away. Too. Much. Awesome.

The taxi driver told me all about how unhappy he was in his marriage, and then after a falling out with the self-service check-in, I dumped my rucksack and went for a breakfast and a pint. I wanted one last full English and a nice pint of English ale, because I knew it'd be some time before I'd get them again. I was pleased that they had Mad Goose on. Yay!

Breakfast and a pint of Mad Gooose. A good start to adventure!

First flight was to Amsterdam. I slept from before the safety bit until we landed. I might have been tired. I had a half hour to kill, so what better to do than track down a nice pint of Heineken. And what did they have at the airport for serving Heineken, but Murphy's Irish pub.

Then was the flight to New York. It was pretty uneventful. I slept, I finally watched The Anchorman and Iron Man 3, I landed. Then I queued. I queued about an hour for border control people and then another half hour for security for my next flight. I spotted a litre bottle of Jameson on the way to my gate. I stopped to get it. I asked how much it cost. $32 they said. I told them I'd take it. They asked what flight. I told them San José. But apparently you can't shop an hour and a half before a flight. What had I spent an hour and a half doing in JFK? Queuing! Bastards!

Cheerio JFK!

Got to San José and they had a shop at the airport coming out of arrivals. $24 for a litre bottle of Jameson. Got 200 Marlboro Gold to go with it, which cost another $22. #winning

Got a shuttle bus provided by the hostel from the airport. There's a little man with a bunch of signs, rounding up groups of people for the different hostels, so if you're doing something like this, keep a couple of dollars on you. It served a few hostels in the chain. I was chatting to an English girl on the bus, and, you know when you're talking to someone and you know they're clearly only there for the cocaine? That.

Anyway, got to my hostel, got checked in and stuff, went out for a smoke, and the receptionist said somebody else from Raleigh had arrived. I told him to tell her to give my door a knock. It was Sarah the Logistics Manager. We went for food and beer, and it was lovely.

There's steak under all those onions! This, and another beer after cost 5000CRN. The Internet tells me that's about 6.11GBP. That's grand.

Although not a very exciting day, it's been an important one, and it has made me consider that when the Raleigh experience is complete, I'll be more determined to get a job that pays well enough, and that will allow me the flexibility to take the time to see the world.

And now I'm typing this blog and going to bed.

It's been a long day.

Buenos noches amigos!