Costa Rica, the Miniseries, vol. 5 - Series Finale

Despite our relief that the wedding would not have to be postponed, our fears were again renewed when the power went out four hours before the wedding. Thankfully, this time the power outage was a scheduled one to repair damage to the country’s infrastructure, and power was restored two hours before the wedding was to begin. Hair was curled and crisis was averted.

The wedding itself went off without a hitch and was truly the most beautiful wedding I’ve seen or heard of. The wedding was on the beach behind the house and because the wedding coincided with high-tide, waves were splashing ten feet into the air as a backdrop to the ceremony. I had been asked to do a Scripture reading for the ceremony and say a few words. It was really a privilege to be one of the only family members to speak in the ceremony. Aaron and Bianca: Thank you for that honor and I wish you many, many years of joy and love together.

The night of the wedding, much partying allowed me to see my first Pacific coast sunrise. Despite the so-called DJ only playing for approximately 45 minutes, our group’s iPod addiction was able to save the day and keep the party going all night. On my final day with my family, I played translator/bargainer for a large group of the wedding guests as they did their souvenir shopping around town.

Saying goodbye to my family was tough, but that’s the life of an ex-pat, I guess. After paying entirely too much for a bed to sleep in during my last night in San Jose, I caught a bus to the airport (Peace Corps volunteers can’t afford cabs very often, and leaving my family was the reminder that I was once again dirt poor). No hang-ups to report in the San Jose airport, although my final day in Costa Rica was not fully uninteresting. As I sat waiting for my plane to board, I saw a familiar face cross my frame of vision. Brendan Brown, a friend of mine from college, just happened to be on a weekend vacation in Costa Rica and happened to be in the airport at the same time as me. As I chased him down and yelled out his name, I could see his face stare at me blankly for about five seconds while his mind reeled in disbelief. Not only was it a huge coincidence to run into an old friend in a foreign country, I never would have run into him if he hadn’t missed his flight earlier that morning. ‘Tis truly a small world after all.

Brendan and I in the San José airport.