Costa Rica Has Pizza! 🍕

The Night & Luna Saga Continues

A postcard from Alexander Bentley.

Costa Rica has pizza! 🍕 What can I say?

I’m excited to fill my belly with some delicious and familiar food. I had been missing and craving pizza for weeks now.

So I found a pizza place, called Pizza House, near me in Fraijanes, Costa Rica. The best part is that I could order my pizzas (yes, I got two pizzas and cheese bread) through WhatsApp. Because my Spanish is horrible, I used Google Translate to make my request in Spanish. Thank goodness for technology.

About 30 minutes later, the pizzas arrived, hot and fresh. And since I was starving, I scarfed down a few slices right away.

Now, what does food have to do with the recent happenings of my travel abroad?

Pizza from Pizza House in Fraijanes, Costa Rica.

Well, last week I left off letting you know that my girlfriend Jesa (a.k.a. Luna from Night & Luna fame) and I were still waiting for the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) to process her case. Because the CFO counseling certificate is the last item on the list of requirements for her to leave the Philippines.

We’ve been waiting nearly two months, working on document gathering, sending emails and making phone calls. The CFO counselor asked for a lot of stuff, including a letter from my mother, stating that she knows about our relationship and approves of us getting married. My mom was happy to write the letter, because all of it’s true. She prays every day that we get to see each other soon.

But back to the food!

The reason I mention food in this week’s update is because Jesa isn’t here with me in Costa Rica. I’ve been all alone, cooking my own food. And leading up to her originally scheduled trip, I was really looking forward to finally eating genuine Filipino cuisine. From the pots and pans my girlfriend would cook it in.

She loves food, and I love food too. Heck, who doesn’t love food?

We both were looking forward to sharing our first of many meals together. But as our plans got delayed, so would eating my girlfriend’s cooking. (Don’t worry, I plan to cook for Jesa too. Delicious steaks, in fact. Among other common American dishes.)

My first time cooking Filipino Chicken Adobo.

But we’ve haven’t let the distance ruin our days. Jesa actually taught me how to cook Chicken Adobo and a few other Filipino dishes over video. And for the first time in my adult life, I cooked white rice perfectly. In the past, my rice always came out a little soggy or super sticky. But not with my girlfriend’s guidance.

I bet you’re wondering what happened with the CFO certificate.

Well, I had to get involved this week. I emailed the CFO director responsible for migration integration services a long email. I told her our story, about our plans to get married, and asked for her help in moving the case along.

A day later, Jesa’s CFO counselor scheduled a follow-up call. It wasn’t the conference call that was promised, but the counselor apologized for not getting back sooner. And to our surprise, the counselor had a lot of questions for Jesa again about the beginning of our relationship.

Toward the end of that call, Jesa’s counselor walked her through getting the marriage (once we’re married, of course) reported back from Costa Rica to the Philippines. Which involves having the Philippines Embassy in Mexico (since there’s only a Consulate General in Costa Rica) certify and report the marriage to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in the Philippines.

We both took that as a good sign of things to come. But it’s not over yet.

So, what’s next?

The counselor said Jesa will have a conference call next week. But before she does, her parents need to write and sign a letter that they consent to her getting married to me. This will be no problem, since I regularly see and talk to Jesa’s parents on video. Almost every day.

By the way, getting the parents’ consent in the Philippines is a standard practice when a Filipino or Filipina is below a certain age in their 20s.

After the letter and conference call, we’re hopeful things will move along much quicker. And that soon, Jesa can go through the counseling seminar and receive the certificate.

And once Jesa has that CFO certificate in her hands, that means she can get on a plane and come see me in Costa Rica. If we're lucky, that'll be within the next month!

Yours truly,
Alex

P.S. Don’t forget to follow me everywhere on social media. Visit my site to get the links.