This is it

My final day in Costa Rica. And, it appears, that for the second time this year, I lucked into getting something accomplished more efficiently (remember the express bus to Jaco in June? That was the first time...)

Today I had a lot of banking to do. Despite my best efforts to get the University to give me my final paycheck early so I could transfer the amount to my US account and pay my rent and spanish class bills, and close my CR account the University refused to do so before my last day. (But, they helpfully offered one of their drivers to take me to the bank on his way to San Jose.) The reason I wanted the check early was not to abscond with the money, but because I'm leaving at 7:15 AM tomorrow, and will not have been able to get to the bank on Saturday or Monday to close my account if anything went wrong. And, let's face it, this is The Ciudad, something always goes wrong.

The Ciudad, once again, did not let me down. Something went wrong. The branch of my bank in The Ciudad is closed today. Why, you might ask, is it closed on a random friday? For the town fiesta (fair). The banks and social security office in The Ciudad decided to close today (without prior warning) so their employees could go to the fiesta. Huh. [As long as I'm on a tirade about the town fiesta, I should tell you it's just like town fairs in the US: rides they bring in on trucks, food stands, a stage with live music performances, fried dough, and beer. Exept in the Ciudad, they set the fair up on a big field DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE CEMETARY. Only in Ciudad Colon would the town fair be at the CEMETARY. There was a funeral today, and the family walked from the church to the cemetary behind the hearse, and had to walk RIGHT PAST THE FAIR. Totally unbelieveable, but that's the Ciudad for you...]

Anyway, back to my bank story....the drivers thought they would just take me to the the Multiplaza branch of my bank, but alas, it doesn't open until 1PM. So they took me to the branch in nearby Santa Ana instead. At this point I was pretty convinced disaster was imminent. I had some very complicated banking to do. Two transfers (one international), a check deposit, a cash withdrawl and the closing of my account. In the US I would have trouble getting this done correctly. I was convinced that they would tell me that the check wouldn't clear in time to be transferred, or I'd have to go to like seven tellers to get my stuff done, or that I had to go to my home bank branch to close my account. Gah.

When I got to the bank, the metal detector wouldn't let me in with my back pack, so I had to switch all of my bank stuff to my purse and put the backpack in a locker. Not a good sign. Then when I got into the bank, I had to draw a number and wait 30 minutes to be served. The whole time, I was thinking of contingencies...would my bank at home process a costa rican check? Would they let my host mom close my account for me? Could I close the account over the phone? And suddenly, my number was up. That's when it happened. THE MIRACLE. I got this teller who was so sweet and so understanding and....GOT IT ALL DONE. All of it. Two transfers, one deposit, a cash withdrawl, and my account closed. Done. All in like 20 minutes. I think I will name my first born daughter after her (gabriella), I am so grateful. For good measure, I hopped a cab home and paid my spanish class bill immediately. And was rewarded with a super-yummy home cooked lunch (and more time with my host mom, Tica grandma, and older host brother).

Oh, and did I mention, I did all of my banking in Spanish? :)