More corruption

Just when you thought all was going well, bam. The grim reminder that you're not in Kansas anymore smacks you between the eyes like a two-by-four.

Host Dad just got back from a short business trip to Colombia. He's a kid's clothes wholesaler. He travels to neighboring countries looking for good deals on Kid's clothing and passes the savings on to his customers here in CR. He got home late Saturday night. On the way home he was charged two "tips" by customs agents. One, in Colombia and one in...you guessed it, CR.

Now, admittedly, host dad had some big problems on his way home. First of all, he was traveling with two salesladies from CR, and since they all made their reservations at the same time, all of their bags were checked in under his name. Predictably, the two ladies did not get a seat on the overbooked flight, and he didn't have the heart to tell them that he couldn't take their bags (a very dangerous decision coming from Colombia). With all of the extra bags, he was charged a $180 "tip" by customs officials in Colombia. Then, on the second leg of the trip home, as host dad was about to board the plane in Bogata (he had flown from a small town in another part of Colombia), he discovered that he had lost his passport. When he got to CR, the authorities had been notified by the immigration officials in Colombia that he was traveling without papers, and were waiting for him when he got to San Jose. After a lengthy interrogation (where he was accused of being Colombian), they searched his person (presumably for drugs) and asked him to repeat his story over and over. Then he was sent to customs, where they went through every piece of luggage he was carrying. They then told him they would admit him if he payed a "tip" of $75 per bag. The total came to $300. Nearly the cost of the flight to Colombia. Host Dad didn't have that much money on him, so he gave the customs agents every colone he had on him and promised to return with the rest on Monday. And he has to return with the money because he's going back to Colombia in two weeks, and doesn't want any problems. Of course, at the end of the customs negotiation, the customs agents magically "found" his passport. Interesting.

The scary thing is that host mom has a student that works in customs at the CR airport. Host dad had called to alert her to the problems, and she called the friend to ask if he could help at the airport. He said yes, but this is going to cost a lot of money. It sure did. Gotta love low-level corruption...