El agua

Well, Costa Rica is in an official state of emergency - with the tropical storm passing through and the ridiculous amount of rain we've been getting, (for example: one night of rain this week was equal to what Costa Rica usually gets during the entire month), there have been floods, mudslides, bridges collapsing...you can't really travel anywhere, and a lot of people have lost power, and ironically, water because of all the erosion. In the region of Escazu, people have died in the mudslides and flooding. It's a tragedy, and it's surreal - I can't believe it's happening not too far from where I'm living.

I don't want to worry anyone...I'm safe here, it's just realllly wet and it hasn't stopped raining in days. The most serious problems are happening in the unstable regions in the mountains with the mudslides. We may lose power occasionally and the water is a little unreliable, but that's about it. Tomorrow, Meagan and I are going to help out with a food drive close by for the families who are being affected the most by the mudslides and floods. I wish I could do more! I feel useless, but I hope that every little bit really does count.

~*~

A happier piece of news is that I bought a sweatshirt today from Veritas! It's the comfiest most amazing sweatshirt ever. And it's red. Bonus.

This week my photography project is on my Tica (Costa Rican) family. So far, it's been harder than I thought it would be, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

Something not so fun is that I have some sort of infection in my right ankle - I cut it on a rock last weekend when we were at the beach, and that hurt, but it seemed to be better the next day so i didn't worry about it. Last night though, it was prettyyy swollen and unhappy. So I've been soaking it every couple of hours in salt water and putting some antibiotics on it. It's getting better! I swear though - one thing after another. That's how life is I guess! But I'm just grateful for a safe, dry place inside where I can be with people who take good care of me. =) I know I say it every other time I write, but I love my Tica family quite a lot.

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Now Meagan and I are going to watch a Latin American film called La Boca Del Lobo - it's about "La Guerra Sucia" (The Dirty War) in Central America. Kind of a rough, confusing topic, but it's good to practice listening and interpreting Spanish!

Ciao, amigos!

love,

Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)