So how do you explain the fact that 5 former and current fosters left all of our luggage with a complete stranger?
Utter exhaustion.
Some background: our flight from LAX to San Salvador was 6 with a 2 hour layover in San Salvador. We hopped one a place from San Salvador to Costa Rica that lasted an hour. After that we had a 5 hour layover in Costa Rica before our flight to Lima. We did not want to stay in the airport, so we decided to venture out as we were all pretty antsy. We proceeded to go through customs (I got my first country stamp in my passport!) and off we went. We struggled getting an Uber and had to carry all of our baggage around as we figured out transportation, not to mention we had been carrying this luggage through the entire airport. We didn't have reception and had to remain close to the airport to still use their wifi. Only problem was Uber’s in Costa Rica can’t pull up like normal taxis do, so we went and waited at an agreed location. After waiting 20 minutes, our ride was cancelled (we only discovered this when one of our group members went back to connect to WiFi) We finally gave up on the Uber and went with an official taxi service. We had been hesitant because we didn’t want to be overcharged, but at this point it was getting late and we wouldn’t have much time. We met our driver Alonso and told him we had 2 hours to go grab some food and we wanted to eat local Costa Rican food. He took us about 15 minutes away from the airport to a small restaurant where he said had amazing caldo (too bad they only make it on Saturdays). As we were getting out of the taxi it dawned on us that we didn’t have a phone to call him. We asked that he return in one hour to a centro parke about a block away where we intended to visit. He agreed and asked if we would leave our bags with him. I don’t think we had even considered that an option, but when he said it there was no hesitation. We all agreed to leave our bags— everything. I hesitated, but felt that it would be rude of me to take my stuff while all my fellow travelers left theirs.
I think it was a combination of being super tired and hungry that led to our poor decision. I think it’s pretty much self explanatory to not leave your belongings with a stranger, especially if your stuff is worth more than the ride itself.
But we were hangry, exhausted, and to be honest took a chance and trusted someone and it felt right in our guts.
We sat down and didn’t think about our luggage after that. We ordered our food and started chatting. The food itself took longer than I was use to. I checked myself when I realized that I was feeling annoyed with the slow service. We weren’t in the US and this wasn’t a fast food joint. All of us ordered different dishes and fresh meals took time.
The wait was definitely worth it because our meal was amazing! We all ordered Aguas Frescas and different platos. I ordered pollo con salsa which was not what I had expected. I thought it would be a more spicy chicken, but had a sweet tangy sauce instead. Surprisingly, not bad at at all— actually really good!
As we were finishing our meal, who do we look up to see? Our driver Alonso! Without noticing our hour had flowne by and we were still at the restaurant. He told us he went to the parke and didn’t find us so he came back here. A sense of relief washed over us collectively since 1. He didn’t ditch us (which would have been understandable since we were not at the agreed upon spot) 2. He was back with our stuff! and 3. As fosters when you're put in a system you can't trust to hand over your baggage both physically and metaphorically and be respected and safe. It felt good to have given our trust during this experience and it not be violated. It makes me believe if we could trust, other fosters who travel (or life in general) can potentially too.
All in all it was definitely a learning moment. We took a leap of faith and it didn’t backfire. We got to try some amazing Costa Rican food and got back in time for our next flight. Thanks Alonso!
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