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.