All of the students are safely under the palapa of the International House. The students represent over a half dozen nations from Italy to Germany, the United States to England. We are all here to learn Spanish, and tonight we are going bond under the 150 mph winds of Dean. The staff here has been wonderful, they have insisted that all of us students – no matter where they were staying prior to the hurricane – come stay at the school as one big family. Safety in numbers.

Teresa, the director of the program went out and bought us all dinner, and we have plenty of food to keep us going. Students have brought beer and we have some gin, vodka, and whisky to keep us going throughout the long, windy, spooky night.

Curfew just started and we are not allowed to leave the building. It is an eerie scene seeing Playa, a usually bustling tourist destination, completely still. Rain has just started and we are all getting ready for a long, wet night.