Paula MacLeod Portfolio

Today has been so exhausting. We all met at RDU at 4 am for our 6 am flight to Atlanta. To my great delight, though, the metal rod in my leg didn't set off the scanner! So that was good. 

Sometime during the delay in Atlanta, everyone started to feel the effects of getting up at 3 am. By the time the plane had leveled off for Costa Rica, I was napping in my seat.

Getting through immigration was daunting, but only because of the lines. There must have been 200 people waiting to go through immigration and then customs. The check points were straight forward, thank goodness. 

Everyone was in high spirits when we got onto the van. Costa Rica is so interesting. It's windy and warm with plenty of flowers in bloom and palm trees here and there. The way people drive is disorganized despite lights and signs, but I've seen worse in Miami. The motorcyclists often ride between lanes of cars and do about anything they like.

There's graffiti everywhere, some good, some ok, and some really good. The buildings and homes ranged widely from nice with cool iron work detail to run down.

The hotel is a story of it's own (http://www.taironainn.com). None of the pictures on their website look anything like what I've seen here. The inside looks like a stucco villa, with stairs that go up to the floors from the middle of the lobby after you pass the check in counter. There's an elevator, but it is so small, only 1 person and their luggage can fit. We filled it with luggage sent it up and then went up the stairs. At each landing, there are 3 Spanish-style ornate chairs. If you look up from the first floor in the dining area, it looks like you are in a courtyard. There's a fountain with gold fish in it, which is cute, but loud. The whole thing says, "We're trying", but the result falls short a bit. They use real keys and when we leave, we have to leave the key with who ever is at the front desk. There's no A/C, and I can't tell if the rooms are heated, either. No sign of vents or heating ducts. We have a big window that allows the breeze in, but also all of the noise.

A train track is just 10 or 12 feet from the window of our room. It's like a short Amtrack and runs from 5 am until after dark in regular intervals. The horn or whistle doesn't sound like any train I've ever heard, either. It sounds like a firetruck horn. Another strange thing about this place is that there are two (very cute and don't look like strays) dogs downstairs that seem to live or hang out or something in the garage area of the parking deck. So here comes the train and then the dogs bark like nuts. Train, dogs.

Our advisor gave us ear plugs. 

We had meetings with two clients also. The last was over at 9 pm.

I wish I had more pictures right now, but I will definitely get some tomorrow--and a video of that train!

But, for now, here's a picture of one of the dogs.