Ninja police and the truth about toilet paper

Well, we´ve all made it to San Jose and we´ll be off to the beach tomorrow. As the crow flies, it´s only two hours, but as the bus drives, we´re looking at five and a half to get to Tamarindo. I´ve heard the roads leave something to be desired...exactly what that something is and the degree to which it´s desired, I don´t yet know. Will showed up today, sans luggage. After only fifty hours of traveling including a seven hour layover in Guatemala, he´s not exactly excited that he has no clean clothes. However, it´s surprising how quickly you can make a friend forget his troubles with a cold beer and hearty meal. Plus, I told him he could use my slightly used undies in a pinch.

Forewarning...Mom, its not as bad as its about to sound.

Went out last night and walked around the wrong corner. The ninja police (so titled because of the ski masks they were wearing) stopped us with submachine guns drawn and demanded our passports. Luckily, one of the three of us spoke Spanish, so it was never really a worry that we were in trouble, but when a guy with a machine gun is yelling at you in a foreign language, you tend to take notice. Turns out they were patting down locals for drugs and the only reason we had trouble was because the stamp on my passport wasnt quite legible. To the ninja police, that implied that I was in the country illegally. Immigration eventually cleared us and the whole experience was kind of fun. I wanted to take pictures, but something told me that wasnt such a hot idea. I think it was the guns. Actually, Im sure it was.

While learning that you should have copies of your passport stamped with your date of entry is very valuable, it´s not something you´ll use every day. However, this little nugget of wisdom IS something you´ll use daily...some of you may use it SEVERAL times a day! South of Texas, absolutely NO toilet paper is to be flushed down the toilet. There´s a garbage can next to the toilet that you throw every rotten little square into. I´m still coming to terms with this...but it sure explains the horrid smelling lavatories that I´ve run into. The wisdom fountain is flowing fully open right now.