It’s still raining here, I guess because Matthew is still visiting the area. Nothing torrential, no high winds…just can’t escape the wetness anywhere. It’s alright though. It gave us a lazy day to just hang out at our favorite café and play online. Mike’s initial plan for our last day with our car was to go to Santa Maria de Dota, a coffee plantation that provides tours, free samples of various kinds, and boasts of a barrista named third in a world competition. It looked way closer than Pavones, so I agreed. I rarely say no to coffee anyways and a rainy day pairs well with a warm cup. As we were on our way (with a really vague map from our LP guide) we asked a traffic stop worker if we were headed in the right direction. He shook his head and said, “No, this way you are lost.” He was excited to show off his English skills and drew us a map. Mike asked all the geographical questions, I (learning from our recent Pavones excursion) asked the most important one. How long will it take to get there? His response, “Really?” as in, do you honestly want to know? Heck yeah, I do. Even though I'd like to forget the Pavones excursion, my stomach hadn't let me. “I say 5 hours…and you have to ask here (pointing close to where he drew a river) if the road is ok to drive.” Thank you sir for saving me from a Pavones repeat. No coffee is worth another one of those trips.
Instead, we returned to the café, which also gets good phone reception and I spent more time on the phone with a Verizon representative than I have with any family member. I found out that the SIM card would not work until Verizon gives me the code to unlock my current SIM card. And according to online posts from people in the same situation, that could be as complicated as cracking the Davinci Code. I automatically go into Verizon conversations with a chip on my shoulder anyways, I don't know why, I just don't like talking to them, so I was prepared for battle. The first rep, who didn’t even work for Global Support, informed me that I couldn’t activate the new SIM card unless I was in the US. I told her, nicely, that this was bull and I just wanted the code to unlock my phone. In a tone I'm sure was forced because her calls are recorded, she offered to transfer me to Global Support. Which of course, got disconnected. Point for her.
I called Global Support directly and after hitting whatever number seemed to coincide closest to what I needed, got Rain on the phone. Before I called back, I read a few more online posts about how to get this highly protected unlock code from your cell company. Seems like if your reason sounds legit enough and the planets are aligned, they might do it. So I fibbed (hey, don’t judge, I’ll do what it takes to be able hear my family and friends voices) and informed Rain that I was working while living abroad and my employer requires me to have a local phone number which can only be provided with a local company’s SIM card. I don’t know if the story did it, or if Rain was just the 1st rep's polar opposite, but she was glad to help as long as I met the unlock conditions (if you're interested, they are: you have to be a customer for at least 90 days, have never been passed due on a bill and never had service suspended due to non-payment) – which we did. Rain guided me through the multi-stepped process and get this, also offered to decrease our monthly plan since we won’t be using their services for three months. Was this for real? A Verizon rep that actually tried to reduce my plan rather than up it?!?!?
And even better, everything she told me worked. We now are able to talk to our family and friends for just $0.11 a minute. The only problem is that it changed my phone number…we are now really living like locals with our own Costa Rican number. Please email either of us and we’ll gladly send it over to you.
Thank goodness for Rain.
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