Costa Rica

Upon driving through the Immigration checkpoint entering Costa Rica, I noticed a girl standing there with a uniform on. The Costa Rican Immigration officer checked my passport and while he was about to wave me through, mentioned that the girl was a coworker (aseo, limpieza i.e. janitorial) and asked me if I would give her a ride home 20km down the road into Costa Rica. I said ok, since the aduana officer knew her and was a coworker.  Seemed legit, and it was. On the way to her home she told me she was 28, had 2 kids, one disabled, and that she lived with her mother. I guess the kids' father was long gone.  I had forgotten to change my Nicaraguan Córdobas to Costa Rican Cólons. When we got to her house I gave Elizabet my Córdobas. It was about $100, I think.

Earlier in the day I had stopped to fill up in Nicaragua to use up my Córdobas, but got scammed by a gas station attendant who didn’t reset the pump to zero, and stole maybe $5 from me.  A common trick in Latin America, where self-service gasoline doesn't exist. I immediately told him to stop the pump, gave him his lousy money, and drove off. I was in a hurry, otherwise I would have pushed back.

Having driving off with just a couple liters of gas is why I still had so much Nicaraguan currency on me. I’d much rather have given $100 to this girl than have $5 stolen from me by a thief, and I'm glad the cash ultimately went to good use.