Monday, December 20, 2010

Ears in Costa Rica

We are in Costa Rica! Haven't seen a whole lot yet, but what we have seen is beautiful.

I am here today, though, not to write about Costa Rica -- that will come tomorrow -- but rather to tell you about the hell that was my ears. I have a head cold. I'm sure I've flown with a head cold before, but this time made me swear I never will again. When we were making our descent into Houston, it felt like someone was stabbing an ice pick into the sinus above my right eye. That was only slightly worse than the pain in my ears radiating down my neck and into my teeth. On a scale of 0-10, this pain was an 8, easily. Keep in mind, too, that I would probably never rate anything a 10 because a 10 is the worst pain you can imagine. I have a very vivid imagination. So essentially this pain was an 8 out of 9. I almost cried, but it hurt too much to cry. The worst part, too, was that there was absolutely nothing I could do, nowhere to go, no one who could make it better. I was stuck on that stupid plane with my stupid ears, and that stupid ice pick stabbing over and over into my forehead.

Now I'm having a really hard time hearing conversations. However, all the sounds going on inside my head -- chewing, swallowing, random ear crackles, etc -- are magnified 100,456 times.

BUT, I am in Costa Rica! And I do not need my ears to appreciate the beauty. Unless, that is, there are animal sounds I should be hearing.

4 comments:

Cait said...

SO Sorry! Its amazing how ears seem to be such a little part of the body, but they can hurt so bad. I jumped off a cliff into a river in Wyoming once and had the worst ear pain ever after, it was worse than anything I had ever felt before that moment, so I know ears can HURT.

But yay for Costa Rica! Now all of us sisters have gone there! Hope you get to see coatis and Volcán Arenal!

Charlene said...

100,456 times? You actually measured it? Hopefully the pain is gone, the hearing is back, and you can gloat without pain that you are in Costa Rica while the rest of us are freezing our buns off in KC. Enjoy!

Unknown said...

Now, is that an 8 on the hyperbole pain scale?
So sorry you're feeling icky! Loving the photos though, and hope you feel better for these last few days.

Yara said...

Yes, definitely an 8 on the hyperbole scale. :-)