not so funny comedy of errors

i can't believe i actually made it to costa rica, never mind tamarindo - the small surfing town i am staying at. it has been a pretty ridiculous chain of events!
it started in houston, texas. they announced we would be leaving late as the pilots were still flying from atlanta. they boarded us an hour late and told us the pilots would be "just a few minutes" and "they are landing on the runway now". well almost an hour later no pilots - apparently they got stuck in a line-up on the tarmac for 45 minutes.
finally, the pilots get on the plane, and awhile later... "well folks, it seems like we don't have enough fuel, so we just need a few minutes to fill up"
30 minutes later, "well folks, it seems something was miscommunicated, they didn't give us enough fuel. i would like another 5000-6000 pounds on board. just a few more minutes"
another 30 minutes later... "well folks, the fuel truck is now stuck on the tarmac, within our sight. apparently they are being blocked by a medical emergency in another plane"
finally, about 2 1/2 hours of sitting on the plane watching every t.v. show they have on their old vhs tapes, we start the taxi down the runway.
and we are off...

and finally some good news... "well folks, to thank you for all your patience, alcoholic beverages are on us tonight!" well, i admit i had a margarita, and i am surprised that the whole plane didn't get wildy drunk off their faces because there were some very irritated people! everything seemed to be going well... i had missed my ride pick-up at the airport and tried to email from houston, but i had a hostel booked and i felt good. i was even laughing!

but there is more... we started our descent into san jose, costa rica, when i noticed the nose of the plane started pointing more and more upwards. i thought "this isn't how you are supposed to land a plane" and what do you know
"well folks, there is alot of fog here in san jose, and we CAN'T FIND THE AIRPORT" ( i add the emphasis). so we have to circle around and try again"
so we fly in another circle with a few dims lights showing through the fog. and we fly in another circle... and some more...
"well folks, it seems that we just can't seem to land here in costa rica, so the plan is to land in nicaragua. we'll fill you in on the details as we know them"

so it is now 11:30 pm, we were supposed to arrive at 8:30 pm and now we are going to nicaragua! well, i thought, i haven't been there before! now i will be able to say i dropped in! they tell they will put us in a hotel for the night and announce more plans in the airport. and oh, by the way, the airport in managua, nicaragua was closed for the night, so they had to call all the employees and ask them to come back!

so we land and shuffle into the airport. no announcements, no direction. just 2 11 seat vans to shuttle about 200 people to different hotels. i took one of the last shuttles as some very ornery people pushed their way to the front. i could sleep another day... they told us, we'll announce in your hotel what the plans are for the day in the morning...

so, 1:30 in the morning i finally fall into bed. i am supposed to be catching a separate flight at 8:30 in the morning on a different airline to get to tamarindo...

in the morning, do you think there are any announcements. no, why would they do that? based on heresay from other passenegers i find out about the flight and spend $13 on a phone bill to rebook my other flight and arrange transport to the other airport. 20 minutes later, another passenger tells me a different departure time which screws up my other flight. i sent a fax cancelling everything and have no idea what i am going to do.

we finally get to the airport and i meet an american couple who are also trying to get to tamarindo. we decide to make a run to the other local airline to try to snag a last minute flight.
in another miscommunication between the pilots and airport staff, we spend another hour on the tarmac in san jose right in front of our gate...
no such luck with the other airline... they have closed their gate... we are all wandering back to the main airport wondering what the heck to do.
a costa rican man approaches the guy (of the couple) and offers transport in a van to taramindo. we check his van, he looks legitimate, has a friendly face, so we negotiate a price and jump in. so i just take off in a van with americans i met an hour earlier, with 2 strange but friendly looking costa rican men. everything the travel books say not to do!
but i arrived safely, made two friends on the way!
i am now in a hostel that is called "a bottle of milk" with a bunch of people almost half my age - one of whom constantly paces the room - i think he is a little high. i also think i may look for a new hostel tomorrow... but FIRST i must take a surfing lesson!
wish me luck! i think i am going to need it!