Monday.

I was very proud of our Canadian Embassy today. On Friday, Mum had made a phone call to the emergency number for foreign affairs in Canada, and had been assured that a file would be opened, and that the Embassy in CR would have it first thing Monday morning.

We had a bunch of banking and stuff to do first thing, but we drove into San Jose as soon as possible, and got to the embassy at around 10:45.

Not only did they have a file, but they expressed their opinion that Mum had definately "been through enough" and they did not want to trouble her any further, so they had taken the time to fill out all the forms she would need before we arrived, using the information from her records.

So Mum signed in five or six places, a pleasant gentleman came in and took her picture with a digital camera, and they suggested we go and have some lunch, and come back in an hour or so.

An hour or so later, we came back, and they handed Mum her new emergency passport, good for one trip only, but perfectly acceptable to get us home.

So we made it back to Atenas in plenty of time to meet with our lawyer and have dinner with friends at La Trilla.

All the businessy stuff is now taken care of, so we can relax tomorrow and concentrate on getting the car back, and getting to the airport on time.

Oh, another first for today - I saw a live and free boa constrictor. The gardener at Colinas Del Sol was fishing it out of one of the potted plants on the patio in front of our room. Here is a poorly focused picture of him trying to squeeze the life out of a metal rod. The gardener walked him to the far side of the driveway (about 8' away), and shook him off on the other side of the curb, right next to the stairs we take to get breakfast. The boas, he explained, are good because they eat mice and other pests, but the guests are unhappy if they get to close to the rooms. This one is a baby. Apparently Mama, who we didn't get to meet, is 2.5 metres long.