I did it.
I crashed the country club and I didn’t get caught. #winning
That is my friend Ashley over there on the other side of the court, my partner in crime. She traveled about an hour on the bus to my cute mountain town with the intention of playing tennis, so I felt like there was no turning back. We had to get a court. We had to be successful super spies.
As we approached the guard at the entrance to the country club, I wasn’t really sure what to say. We pulled up and I started with the normal Costa Rican pleasantries, hoping things would go my way:
“Buenos días. ¿Comó está?” (Good morning, how are you?)
“Muy bien” he replied. (Very good.)
“Que día muy lindo!” I said. (What a beautiful day!)
“Sí, sí,” he replied, “¿Van por el club?” (Yes yes, Are you going to the club?)
“Sí,” I replied, knowing that I was about to get busted.
“Su nombre por fa,” he asked. (Your name, please)
“Erin,” and then I spelled it out.
“Gracias. Pase por fa” (Thanks, go ahead.)
I shouted gracias as I pulled forward into the parking lot. “That was too easy” I said to Ashley, “We must look like we belong here.”
With our recent success, we weighed options for getting to actually play on the tennis court. Should we sneak around the side of the building and on to the court? Should we go and find the manager and ask permission? Should we walk in like we own the place?
At this point we agreed that most of the successful ventures we have had were a result of doing something and then asking for permission or apologizing for it later. We had to play tennis, even if only for a few minutes. We coached each other in standing up straight and walking with a purpose and then headed towards the main entrance of the club.
“Buenos días!” I happily proclaimed as we walked by all the super buff and official looking people at the entrance. “Buenos días,” they responded as I pointed out the pool and jacuzzi to a wide-eyed Ashley. We then decided to take a stroll to the top observation deck and survey the scene.
You see, we weren’t even sure where the tennis court was, but our success depended on continuing to act like we owned the place.
We spotted the court, it was empty, and then we made our way down there, hoping it would be unlocked. It was. We hit some balls, then played a match. Three hours later, we left without having been bothered. We were unbelievably successful!
Bonus: we met someone with guest passes, so next time we might even be there legitimately… but that isn’t very much fun, is it?
Congratulations, Erin!!
I love this story…my girlfriend and I did the very same thing at a super posh club in the Berkeley California hills to get into the swimming pool…
I was mortified that she suggested we take the tour, find out the $18K per month membership and then ask to swim in the pool to try it out. But they let us do it and we had a fabulous day, frockling by the pool, acting totally as if we belong there…
What is life, if you don’t have these awesome stories to tell?
Again, congrats..
PS…I hope you and Ashley have many more successful adventures!!!!
Wow 18K per month! I think we can join the Costa Rica club for only $60 per month. We’ve already decided it’s nice enough to join if we get busted. I’d much rather continue to sneak in, though 🙂
Ah, chicas get all the breaks. I bet you had on those skimpy cute tennis dresses, amiright? Congratulations on your crime of the week. Perhaps you should start a “I do things so you don’t have too” blog for Costa Rica… http://idothings.info/
haha! I did have on a tennis dress 🙂
But when we rolled up, Ashley was wearing a tank top and jeans that were 5 sizes too big. However, she is blond. Blondes always win here, don’t they?
I’m hoping that we can successfully sneak in enough that the staff begin to think we are regulars. Maybe we’ll be invited to some cool parties… possibilities are endless.
Nice job Erin! Sounds like it wasn’t a very busy day there, but I’ll bet you could get by the guard any day. In the worst case a couple mil colones would probably work, too.
Good idea. Bribing should be my plan B and definitely come before getting a legitimate membership. 🙂
Great story–love it! The other day I was thinking about your previous post where you wondered if the whole tennis thing was their way of politely saying no. I think that’s going to be one of the hardest things for me to get used to when I move there–figuring out whether they are being nice or just politely telling me no. Are there ANY clues to figure out what they really mean in such situations?
Oh there are definitely clues. You can pretty much bet on the answer being “no” if they say anything except “yes.” You are also going to need to learn how to say “no” without actually saying “no.” I think it’s a fun creative exercise 🙂
You just inspired me – I’m going to write a post about how to say no in Costa Rica…
Now that would be a VERY interesting post! I would love to hear some different ways you’ve been told no or said no.
Working on it now… 🙂
ok, here is the post about saying no: https://www.delapuravida.com/2013/ways-to-say-no-in-costa-rica/
Awesome. What a great little adventure. I particularly loved this: “We then decided to take a stroll to the top observation deck and survey the scene.
You see, we weren’t even sure where the tennis court was, but our success depended on continuing to act like we owned the place.”
I can so see this. Well played. 🙂
haha 🙂 thanks Scott!
Way to go Erin! It’s so easy if you look like you know what you’re doing. Remember the TV series Rockford? He got into all sorts of places by acting like he belonged there.
Tio Potlick
I don’t remember that series but maybe I should Google it and study up on his techniques 🙂
Great story! I have heard of people crashing pools at hotels but this is even better.
I’ve crashed my fair share of pools here, too 🙂
glad you are posting again! your posts are always interesting!
Thanks!
Great story! Growing up, we used to call that “act like you know…”
I was in Costa Rica myself a year or so ago. Today I was googling Tico related info online and came across your page. Thanks for sharing your stories.
Wish I could figure out how to do this for golf! Good work!
haha I think if you show up on a day that is not very busy you might be able to pull it off, too. Just act like you belong!! 🙂
Ideas for the future….praetorianprefect.com/archives/2013/02/two-jokers-social-engineer-their-way-into-the-superbowl/
hahaaha that was awesome!!! Thanks for sharing! I love the term “social engineer.” Those guys need better video cameras… I need a better video camera. I’d love to get a GoPro w a head attachment to document some of the crazy and awesome things that happen here.
Great story. Glad you and Ashley had fun! Thanks for sharing.