I am here. I am tired. I am out of it. This morning was hell. Got to the airport at 330am, running on 1 hour sleep. Julie did not have a flight, but I did. We ended up dealing with it. She had to buy a one way ticket. When we got here everyone was eating breakfast and getting ready for their first day at their placement. I went straight to bed and slept until noon. The house is much different than the one in Tanzania. It is actually more hotel style, with all the rooms in the same building, and some common rooms for reading, hanging out, etc. No outside area except the roof. And it is right on a main street of the town. I got lucky again and have only one roommate. A ... read more

Julie, a friend that I met in Tanzania last year, is stuck here until Tuesday with me! There are also two other girls that are stuck here as well, but we don't know where they are. So Julie came and woke me up today and we walked out to the main strip. There were thousands of people around and the streets were blocked off. I guess they are celebrating their Independence Day this weekend, even though the real Independence Day is not until July 28th. The parade was just getting started this afternoon, and has been going well into the night. In fact, it's 7:30pm now, and I can still hear the fireworks booming outside. They sound like bombs going off across the hall! I should still be out there enjoying all of this, but I ... read more

I left my house 12 hours ago and I have only made it as far as LAX! My flight out of SFO was delayed, and I missed my connection to Costa Rica. So in other words, I am screwed. I tried to sleep on the floor at LAX last night, but it didn't quite work out. I would've gotten a hotel, but by the time I realized I was screwed in was 2:00am and the ticket counters opened at 5:00am this morning, so I decided to stay. United now has me on a flight to JFK at 1:00 this afternoon, connecting with a LAN Chile flight to Lima. I only have a 2 hr. layover in JFK, so if we're delayed, I might be sleeping in JFK tonight! Oh yea, TACA airlines has my luggage and ... read more