Hi gang. RT here.

Well, it just keeps on getting better. I cannot imagine what the next few days will bring.

I slept a hot three hours last night and woke up raring to go. Armed with a map specially tailored to people with our, er, interests, I took a walk around San Jose to get some sort of bearing on where things are. This map is great, and can be seen at: http://lumpsluvscostarica.homestead.com/map.html

COSTA RICA OVERVIEW: I was expecting this country to be on a par with Mexico (Tijuana specifically) and I am glad to say it is not. Much better here. Maybe there's poverty here, but I do not see it. I am in the middle of a genuine honest-to-god city; full of people going to work, busses, banks, and new cars... all kinds of stuff you do not see in TJ. There are plenty of cops around, but I haven't seen any of them do much except stand around, because there's no problems. It is an old city - there are parks everywhere with fountains and statues that you just do not see any more. Don't get me wrong; as cities go, San Jose has NOTHING on Ft. Lauderdale, but I was expecting the squalor of Tijuana and was very pleasantly surprised. The dining situation is pretty varied here. There are TONS of McDonalds, KFCs, Pizza Huts and many other real, non-chain, regular restaurants as well. I haven't found any excellent ones, but I also haven't looked all that much. As prices go, food is slightly more expensive here than back in Florida. I had a delicious lunch at Tin Jo (a Chinese restaurant on the map), but it came to almost $15. It wasn't a $15 dollar lunch, that's for sure.

RTGOOCH TIP #4: is on Tips. Restaurants here all include a 10% gratuity as part of the price, so you don't have to tip. After talking to may Americans in bars here, they say to tip in bars, but not nearly as much as you would back home.

On to my walking tour. I probably wandered for an hour, finding and visiting many of the highlighted spots on the map. Some are walkable; some probably wouldn't be a good idea at night. One of the places I found (and remembered reading about on a message board) was Centro Massaje. I walk in; climb the steps up and see 4 chicas sitting in a waiting room. I approach the prettiest one (she's drinking coffee) and ask how much is a, er, massage. Well, after she rambles in Spanish, I hand her a pen and she writes down 4,000 1/2. Now 4,000 colonnes comes out to $12, so I have her put down her coffee and say vamanos. This girl was pretty, but not a beauty. She was short - just over 5 feet, and was probably 20 lbs. overweight. Oh, did I mention her tremendous natural chi chis? Anyway, we go into a tiny room, I pay her; she leaves (can you believe that she has to give the house a cut of the $12?) and then returns. We disrobe; she lays me down and goes ahead with an excellent French lesson, without translator. I probably could have finished that way. She didn't seem like she would have minded. But, on goes the condom, she gets on top and rides like crazy. We switch and finish. She does all the cleaning up, and we get dressed. I tip her another 2,000 colonnes and leave. All before 11 a.m. and all for $18, including a 50% tip.

RTGOOCH TIP #5: Learn Spanish. You will probably do better. A lot of times so far, these girls have been asking me things, and I have no clue what to tell them.

I popped back over to the Blue Marlin on the way back. Even at noon on Tuesday, there were a dozen girls - half very pretty - ready and waiting to serve. They have a webcam pointed to their bar, but I figured out where to stand and I will be making an appearance at 11 am Florida time on Wednesday, December 19. I will be the bald guy with the shit-eating grin. You can see RTGooch make his web debut at http://www.hoteldelrey.com/webcam/index.html Well, that's all for now. It is 2:15 pm and I have to rest up. It is Free Blow Job Night at the Park Hotel tonight. I have reserved the Jacuzzi for 4pm here at the Presidente (Have I mentioned this hotel rules?).

I will report back later or tomorrow, with this evening's action.

Take care,

RT