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Life here in Costa Rica has calmed down a bit and we have settled down into the school routine. All that is left of my virus is a cough that gets a little better each day. Updates on the earthquake are still on the local news. It created quite a mess and they are still trying to clean things up. I'm not sure what the death toll is at right now but last I heard it was going on 100.

School has been going well. I have three classes; Grammar (2 periods), Language, and Phonetics. For the first time in my life I am enjoying learning Spanish and feel like I am understanding it. It is nice to not feel like I am just barely hanging on for dear life like I did in high school. Maybe it is because I am slightly more motivated to learn it this time around. Jenna has two classes; Grammar and Language, both are two periods long so we both end up with 4 periods of classes. Classes end by 1:00 so we have a lot of free time in the afternoon which is nice. Of course some of this time is devoted to homework, but there is still a bit of down time. I have to admit, I am feeling a bit boxed in here in a city after living on a farm for a year. I am itching for a chance to get out of the city one of these days.

We spend a bit of time with our fellow students/future missionaries. We have reunited with Joe and Heidi DePuy who we knew from back in high school. There are also a few other SAM missionaries here who we have been getting to know. We also spend a lot of time with our host family. The other week, our host mom Aida had a birthday and what a birthday party it was! We were told it would start around 6pm. We left the house a little before 7pm with the daughter who was hosting the party. We then proceeded to buy food for the party from Price Mart which is the local equivelent of Sam's Club. When we got to the house, we sat around for several hours while people gradually trickled in and the party got set up. As the party geared up, Jenna and I debated with Reinko, a fellow from Holland who was staying here at the house with us, about how long the party would go. Reinko thought the party would wrap up around 10. Jenna and I guessed it would only be getting started around 10pm. It turned out Reinko's gross underestamate was because he did not realize it was a birthday party, much less a party for our host mom. At one point we mentioned the purpose of the party and it took Reinko a minute to wipe "You're kidding!" off his face before the embarasement set it. Needless to say we had a bit of fun with that.

During the party we had live music from a musician playing the Marimba. When he left, Jenna, Reinko, and I decided we were becoming too exhaused to hang around much longer and called a cab. This was around 11pm. Soon after we called the cab, a Mariachi band showed up to serenade Aida for about half and hour. That was fun to watch. Once they were done, the cab driver showed up for which I was quite grateful since I was feeling rather ill at this point. Then to my surprise, the cab diver sat down with a plate of food and proceded to eat dinner. I soon learned that the cab driver was actually a relative of the family who's wife is dying. I guess it is always a good idea to get the whole story before I get too frustrated.

The photos above are of the house we are living in (the green and white one), a sunset view from our house, and the Mariachi band from the birthday party.

Earthquake Update

Apparently the quake yesterday was a bigger deal than we thought. It was the biggest Costa Rica has had since 1991. It was a 6.1 and the epicenter was about 20-30 miles from here. It was a shallow quake so it did a bit of damage. In some places the ground split open and in other the land folded over on itself. All that happened here was a light fixture detached from the ceiling. Something like an earthquake makes you realize just how small we are and how little control we have.

As far as our health goes, Jenna is doing much better and went to orientation today. I am still home sick with a fever. I hope I kick this thing soon.

Volcanos, Earthquakes, and A Virus

Well it has been quite the adventure despite the fact we have only been here a few days. Our trip down here went without a hitch but was a long and tiring journey. It was really sad to have to leave ECHO. With tears in our eyes, we left Fort Myers, Florida at 9pm on Sunday night and drove 3 hours to Miami airport. We had to sit around for quite some time since out flight was not until 4am. We then landed in Managua, Nicaragua for a little layover. From the airport we watched a volcano in the distance spewing smoke while we waited for our plane. We then flew to San Jose, Costa Rica and arrived at our host families house at about 11am on Monday. Needless to say we were exhausted once we got here and were soon to pay the price for stressing our bodies.

Tuesday began the orientation at the Spanish Language Institute. It is a nice little campus with a great staff. I am actually looking forward to learning Spanish, believe it or not. During one of the orientation meetings we had a little earthquake. The teacher did not even notice until the uproar among the students who had just experienced their first earthquake became too much for her to keep going. Once it was explained to her what everyone was so excited about, she said "Oh that, that was just a little tremor, we don't consider that an earthquake." Well it was certainly the biggest one I have ever experienced, that is until today.

Tuesday afternoon I began to not feel so well. By nightfall I had an extreme headache and just could not seem to get myself warm enough. I had a small fever when I went to bed and several restless hours later it peaked at 102 degrees Fahrenheit which is really high for me since my average body temperature tends to be about a degree lower than average. I finally went to sleep around 3am and then took some meds in the morning. I spent the day...

Whoa, there is another earthquake!

Where was I, ah yes, I spent Wednesday resting while Jenna went to orientation. Then in the afternoon it hit Jenna. Her's started with nasty stomach issues then the fever. She has been resting today and I went to some of the orientation since I am feeling a little better. Our host mom had a doctor come and visit us. He said it was something we picked up in our traveling since out bodies are stress, which is what we figured. It is probably the flu. At least we are sick before classes start. They start on Monday so hopefully we will be back to health by then. Usually you hear about people getting sick from being in a foreign country but this is the second time I picked up something before I arrived in country and went through the symptoms abroad. The last time was in Nicaragua when I had unknowingly picked up Whooping Cough in the States before I left.

I little earlier today we experienced a good size earthquake. We all huddled in the doorways for protection in case it became severe. It was a strange feeling. It does not seem possible that something as solid as a house can feel like a rippling wet noddle.

Well it certainly has been an adventure. We are enjoying our time here despite being sick. Our host family is wonderful and take good care of us. The earthquakes will take some getting use to, apparently they have over 100 quakes a month.

If for any reason you would like to send something here, we do have an address. If you do send something, make sure it is sent before April to make sure that it arrives before we leave.

(Our Names)
Instituto de Lengua Espanola
Apartado 100-2350
San Jose, Costa Rica
America Central

Of course the easiest way to contact us will be by e-mail. Check back later for more updates on life down here.