In late 2002 I was invited to travel to San Jose, Costa Rica by Manuel Arce, Executive Director of the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano (CCCN), and we scheduled it for the second week of June of 2003. The University where I work had been sending former students and faculty there for several years under a program Manuel had begun which sought to bring artists from around the world to his town to share their knowledge with Costa Ricans.
It was requested that I conduct workshops on Lighting and Projection Design to local lighting professionals, to train the Technical Director of the theatre at the Center on his new lighting control desk, and to prepare a list of suggested equipment upgrades for the facility.
I decided to take advantage of the trip to spend some time exploring the country on my own. I purchased a motorcycle rental package that provided me with a 650cc bike, maps, and 11 days of rooms pre-booked at hotels, resorts, and B & B’s around the country. The day after I had completed the classes/consults I picked up the bike at the rental company in San Jose and at 10 am on a Friday morning I began my trip. It was the rainy season, and I had already been educated about that and brought my rainsuit along with my normal riding gear. But more about that later.