Ills

Mike arrived Saturday and we tramped off to Monteverde on Sunday. Had a wonderful few days there; the Santa Elena Reserve is one of the best places I've been here. Lots of clouds in that cloud forest, and lots of green things, too. Our guide book said that 25% of the biomass in the Reserve is moss or lichen, which we didn't believe until we got there. Every possible living surface is covered with another living thing. Calla lilies growing in the branches of trees. Mosses hanging down, twirled around vines. Incredible. Strange, too, to be cold, as we were for lots of our visit. Our hotel was way, way, way up a mountain--a 30 minute drive that covered only 9 kilometers (everything you've heard about the roads in Costa Rica is true--esp. in the Monteverde area) and we stayed in jeans and sweatshirts the whole time. The great views of Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal from our hotel room were almost always obscured by clouds, but one afternoon we just sat in front of the picture window in our room, watching the clouds change shapes and directions, revealing and concealing the views. Better than cable.

But, upon returning home, I have taken ill. Oh yes. I'm glad not to know the highs my fever reached yesterday but suffice it to say I was quite certain, for a while, that my brain was expanding beyond the limits of my skull. Today I am at least awake though the minute the ibuprofen gets low in my system the fever and attendant aches return. Poor Mike--he spent yesterday bringing me cool, wet cloths for my forehead and feeding me cold medicine. He is right now at a lunch/tour with the institute, a treat for us faculty, and he is representing me. I even had to cancel my class yesterday, something I hardly ever do. But I couldn't move, really. One of the students suggested I might have dengue fever, as I've been to both the coasts in the past two weeks and got my share of mosquito bites, but my colleague Kerry had this same thing last week, and with the fever also comes a cough, so I think I've just got the flu. Poor Mike. What a nice visit for him. Anyway, if it is dengue (which certainly sounds tropical of me, doesn't it?) there's nothing to be done.

Maggie comes tomorrow, and I'm bound and determined to be well for her. So I will go back to bed soon and work on healthy cells or something. Positive thinking. The power inherent therein. Wish me luck.

In a little more than 24 hours, I'll have my whole family in one country!!!