Vacaciones

The children in Costa Rica have enjoyed a summer vacation from school for the last two weeks. Last week, the government called for an extension of their summer vacation for another week because of the swine flu. Although the first vacation (of the last two weeks) did not apply to the children at our school, the second vacation of this week did--it was mandatory for all public and private schools to dismiss their students this week. No one in our school has had the swine flu, but we are glad they are taking this precaution to help stop the spread. The teachers and administration of the children's school are using this time to clean the children's buildings thoroughly and to paint.

The reason for the mandatory vacation is that scientists had determined that this week would be the peak week of the swine flu here and that during this week, the number of cases of infected people should level off and then begin to lessen.

Today we learned that the vacation is extended still another week. We are all having to juggle our schedules a bit to care for our kids, study, keep everyone happy with so much time inside the house, etc., but we are grateful for our health. This is a small inconvenience compared to a serious illness or even death.

Our hearts and prayers go out to families all over the world who have been affected by the swine flu and lost loved ones.