September 22, 2008

Hi All,

Things are going fine so far.  We had a pretty uneventful flight (a couple of low times for me but manageable), until we tried to land in San Jose and there was this patch of fog stalled over the airport.  It was clear everywhere else but the airport,  We flew in a holding pattern for about 30 mins. and then they were low on gas so we had to go to the next nearest landing strip.  This was in Liberia, Costa Rica.  It was ironic that Fred had  pointed out a sign, earlier in the day, that said Liberia and we both admitted that we never knew it existed.  Ten hours later, it was our destination.  I was excited because Liberia is very near a major beach on the Pacific coast.  I thought they might give us a free room in Liberia.  But, instead (after being held on the plane for 30 minutes in Liberia) they decided that the fog had cleared enough to land in San Jose.  Another 20 minutes to gas up and we were heading back to where the whole thing started.  It was still pretty foggy in San Jose, but the pilot managed to land the plane with no major problem (he really hit the brakes hard which caused the plane to rattle and skid a bit.)  I was impressed with the group of people on the plane as I did not hear one rude or negative comment during the whole ordeal.

I ended up using the wheel chair option at the airport and it was really nice.  A person meets you as you exit the plane and takes you to your next destination.  They know all of the shortcuts and they check you through like a VIP.  We got through customs in less than five minutes!  Fred liked being able to board early so he could get his guitar safely stowed before the masses hit the narrow isles.

Remarkably, our driver from the Stem Cell Institute, was still waiting for us even though we were over two hours late on the plane. He didn't speak much English so I decided to try out some of the phrases that I'd studied during all those hours on the plane.  I did fairly well until I introduced Fred as "mi amiga" (girlfriend),  The Institute also sent me a basket of fresh fruit and flowers.   That was a nice touch.

Our Apartotel is nice, 2 bed, big bath, kitchen, and sitting room. Free Wi-Fi.  It is noisy like a hotel (lots of television noise) but not too loud.  It is very close to the big city park where many people gather to play football (soccer), frisbee or just to picnic.

Today I went to the Stem Cell Institute to have my blood drawn and matched.  I will receive the first of two injections on Wednesday and the second on Friday.  I will keep you informed on my progress as often as possible.

Thanks again for your loving support, now and always. Love, Nancy