Good afternoon gentlemen. RT here.

Well, I ain’t as young as I used to be, that’s for sure.

I woke up this morning after a hot 4.5 hours of sleep with a splitting headache. I think it may be all the cigarette smoke in the bars and casinos getting to me.

I stumble out of bed, go downstairs for my free breakfast, and fight my way back to the roof and into the Jacuzzi again.

An hour, a shower, and a bunch of ibuprofen later, I’m feeling almost human and heading for the Blue Marlin with just one stop on the way to lose some money at a casino. I get there about 10-15 minutes early, and strike up a conversation with the guy next to me at the bar (lives in Alaska, but comes to CR for two months at a time – soon to be an expat, I predict). There must be something to this. Everywhere I go, there’s another former American having the time of his life. I also enlist the help of the lovely bartender, Christina and the manager (forgot his name, but guess what – he’s an American living abroad). I explain about my Internet Debut, and they offer to let me come behind the bar and pose. Christina was sweet enough to help me out. I’ve received a couple of emails that we were seen, and one of my friends did some saves. Just for your information, fellas, Christina would be just about average in comparison to the other girls available in this club. As far as I can gather, she ONLY bartends there (she has a husband).

RTGOOCH TIP #8: It pays to be nice. By asking politely, I got behind the bar at Blue Marlin and a buyback from the manager. I’ve seen a bunch of the stereotype loud, ugly Americans around, and it gives me even more reason to try to avoid it. I’m trying real hard to be quiet, polite and keep a low profile, so as to not call attention to myself.

Flush with fame, I decide to head out to ‘747’ for my daytime chica. This is a true brothel – nothing but girls, guys with money, and rooms. No booze. No music. Nothing.

I walk into what appears to be a doctor’s office waiting room. There were two guys sitting there, as well as three girls. Having done my homework, I know better. The deal is that you go in, and if you don’t like the selection, you wait around for other girls to either finish or show up for work. Of the three, one definitely wasn’t my type, one was OK, and one was easily as pretty as some of the women I’ve seen from our lower-priced agencies in South Florida. Very pretty. I figured, though, that if the other guys were waiting, there may be some real stunners there. I couldn’t see how, but I was willing to wait. In a minute or two, another girl emerges. She wasn’t anything special, and I felt really stupid not going with the pretty girl, so I walked over, said vamanos, amiga, and off we went.

Behind the reception area was a whole bunch of rooms, and some more girls milling about. There were probably about 10 in total, of all sizes and shapes. We go into her room, I find out her name is Karen, and she asks for the money. How much? I reply, eagerly waiting. The answer: 4,000 colones ($11.94!!!!!). I manage to pay without giggling, she delivers the money where ever, and comes back. We both undress, fondle a little, and she gets to work fairly quickly (hell – you only get a half hour for your $12). A nice, long french session, without translation, then on goes the protection and we’re off to the pretty standard two-position mombo.

One problem – this is my fifth attempt in approximately 40 hours. I’m having big trouble, ahem, finishing off this round. What can I say, I’m getting old. Luckily, Karen takes great pride in her work, and she trotted out some more French, along with lending a hand to the proceedings, and we manage to arrive at a happy ending for everyone involved. Me because I’m happy, and her because it ended, I’m sure.

Karen helps me get all cleaned up, then wraps a towel around her body, grabs her clothes, kisses me on the cheek, and leaves. She left before I could find a 2,000 colonne note for a tip, so my total cost was under $12. I manage to get dressed and find my way back to the street.

Not a romantic event, but a very good one none the less, especially for $12.

COSTA RICA NOTE: I walked a lot again today, and San Jose reminds me of New York on 7th Avenue in the low 40s (before Gulianni cleaned it up) and chinatown with the hustle and bustle along with the mostly crowded streets. If it wasn’t for the Spanish and the weird money, this could certainly be an American city.

Well boys, that’s it for me today. I just can’t perform constantly at this level – all this pressure! Tonight, I’m just going to a strip club or two to look at the girlies, and then back to club Idem to see if I can arrange some extracurricular work for Natalia for tomorrow night. I’ve got to recharge. It’s a shame that they don’t have any massage parlors that JUST do massages. I could use one. If anything interesting happens before tomorrow, I will be sure to let you know.

rt