I am in my last week here in Costa Rica. Today our professor was giving us all our final instructions for our last day before we leave and it made me really sad. It will be very different next month without so many people around me and the work will be super challenging. I am so excited to start there, though, and actually start applying all that I have learned this month. I am expecting a lot more challenges than this month, but I think it will also be a lot more rewarding. One thing I am excited for is that my Spanish will really be put to the test because I won’t have so many people around me speaking in English. My goals for next month are:

1.       Become a regular somewhere

2.       Focus on community involvement in the hospital

3.       Make a close Nicaraguan friend

4.       Not spend all my time by myself but get out and be social

5.       Make friends with as much of the staff in the hospital as possible.

6.       Perhaps start teaching English classes twice a week

I think these are ambitious goals, but I know that I need to start with high expectations and then perhaps I will at least do some of them.

Quick recap on things that happened this week. We had salsa classes again on Monday, it was once again quite fun. Tuesday night we went roller skating at the rink. It turns out it is an extremely popular Costa Rican thing to do and there were TONS of people there. Unfortunately I am TERRRIBLE at skating, so I would do a round or two and then make my way back to the wall. It’s just such a stressful activity, I don’t understand how people enjoy it ;) I did have a great time watching all the people, and it was interesting because the Tikos would grab hands with the people in my group and help them along if they were having a hard time. Then they would also play these different games, like during one game every time they blew the whistle the skaters had to do whatever it was that they had just called out, for example switch directions, skate down low, etc. However it was all said in very difficult to understand Spanish, so most of us had no idea what was going on for a while. So entertaining. Also on Tuesday the dog of our family, Pupie (pronounced poopy), died. It was quite a sad affair.

Yesterday my roommates and I cooked dinner for the family. We made a good Dutch meal of meatballs, potatoes, and green beans. I was a little concerned because using a new kitchen can be pretty difficult, especially when the cooking tools are so different, but it actually turned out really delicious and everyone enjoyed it. And it was fun to be able to serve Kattia a bit and have dinner all together (normally the family does not eat with us). Afterwards we went out to Castro’s, a local dance club, and danced our hearts out. I had so much fun dancing salsa, meringue, and the usual American sway. I am a huge fan of dancing! However I am not a huge fan of staying out so late and getting so little sleep. It definitely messes with my thoughts and my stomach. It never ceases to amaze me how much we need sleep! We found out today that Kattia would have liked to come to Castro’s with us. I am so disappointed we did not know that earlier because it would have been so fun to have her with us. ¡Que Lastima!

I can tell the team is all getting a little restless to begin this next month, and I think we are all running off a bit of a sleep deficit. I am quite eager to hear everyone else’s stories about the next month. As for me I am a bit nervous (even more so when I am tired) but excited to see what the month holds. I think there are going to be ample opportunities to learn, serve, and practice tons of Spanish. Turns out only one person in the hospital really speaks English, which I am eager to experience because it will be a great learning experience. I have just a few more hours here in Costa Rica, so crazy because it literally feels like I just got here. Looking back on the month I can’t really remember all that happened or how it flew by so fast! And I am sure the next month will go just as quickly.

I am so blessed by my host family and roommates. I think I have said this before, but they have really been super fun to live with. Kattia clearly really cares for all the students she hosts and invests time in talking to us. And she is so helpful and patient with teaching us Spanish. I have certainly enjoyed my time here. Today as our parting present she gave us each a packet of Costa Rican beansJ my roommate Margaret’s favorite food. Haha. We were joking today about how I am going to come back here to Costa Rica for my honeymoon and stay here in her house. It was so sweet because she said, “Yes you have a free place to stay and a family here in Costa Rica.” She certainly has embraced us into her family, and someday I may have to take her up on that offer for my honeymoon ;)

Well the next time I write I will be in Honduras. I think conditions there will be somewhat different, so I have no real idea what internet time will be like, but hopefully I can continue to maintain my blog. Please pray for health, as I think the risk of illness is considerably higher (ie almost all the participants get sick at some point during the second month), and also pray for endurance, patience, and just an openness to change. Sometimes the first few days of change can be tough, so just prayer that I would have incredible strength during the first week, well and throughout the whole thing.

The last few impressions of Costa Ricans too: They often water down the soap so that it lasts longer. The problem is that it doesn’t really do anything if it is so watered down. But I suppose it costs a heap less if you don’t have to continue purchasing new soap. Even here at the airport (where I am typing this last little piece as I wait for my flight(s) to Honduras) have watered down soap. Also I am enjoying my last few days of cool weather. I have heard that Olanchito is going to be ridiculously hot so we will see how that goes. I  have certainly been enjoying this last little bit of cooler weather though.

Blessings!

  In my Spanish class, as I have mentioned a few times, we often talk about controversial things and within that we often hear about Costa Rican culture. These are a few things that I have noticed in our discussions, as well as just being out and about in the city.

1.       They don’t like street signs!

This is a VERY interesting and challenging phenomenon of Tiko culture. There are no street names, everyone references directions to certain well known landmarks, and the people tend to not really be too concerned with exact locations. Por allá (aka that general direction) is a very common phrase here. The directions are often “We live 50m east of the mango tree” –ok yeah.. which mango tree? And yet somehow they still always manage to find their way. Its incredible. Gladys mentioned it stemmed from a sense of small community that they had back in the 40s, and though the city has grown and technology has advanced tradition has remained so they still feel that same sense of small community, regardless of how inconvenient it is for anyone else. And its incredible because those types of instructions still hold true when you are traveling to a city 4 hours away. You may have no idea what the city is like, but they will still give you “Tiko directions” referencing the mango tree. Also, if you go to the bank to set up an account and you need an address the address would be something like

                “The blue house on the right side of the road, 60 meters west of the Farmacia”

And that is the legitimate address that you put in your bank account. Needless to say, if you paint your house it causes serious issues.

2.       They don’t have door bells

This is extremely difficult when we go to visit other friends on the team because we don’t have phones to tell them we are at the house, and all the houses have huge iron gates in front so we can’t knock on the door. It is a little challenging to get into these places.

 

3.       They LOVE their horns

I swear the Tikos are compulsive horn honkers. The taxis of course honk at you when you are walking to see if you want a ride, but we white women certainly get honks from all kinds of strange men if we are walking down the side of the road. But not only that, the bus drivers are super impatient and they are always honking at the other cars and busses, etc. It’s crazy!

 

I am sure there are lots more that I am forgetting right now, but as I remember them I will post them up. I can’t believe I have less than one week left here in Costa Rica before I head out to Honduras. So crazy! If you can just pray for understanding of Spanish, patience, and

Blessings!

So one of the difficult things about traveling around this country is we really have to rely on what others say will be cool. It is challenging, though, because we can very easily end up in places that are less than what we were expecting. Today, for example, a group of us went to Volcan Irazu. We were eagerly expecting some nice hiking trails, lots of cool nature, and a time to be outdoors for a few hours. What we discovered was a bus ride up to the edge of the crater, three, sort of impressive craters that were surrounded by wooden fences and guards ensuring that we did not pass, and a very “American tourist” catered event. All in all it could have been a complete bummer had the group not been made up of very optimistic people. Sure we were all disappointed, but we were able to still have some fun and just take some pictures and make it much more exciting than I would have imagined. I am often quite excited to see how up for adventure the people on this trip are (which makes sense given the type of trip that it is), but it truly is an extraordinary group of people. Sitting at the very top looking down over the mountains was super sweet. The clouds were absolutely incredible and were just moving in an out and looked like waves on the sides of the craters. Apparently on a clear day you can see the Pacific and Caribbean oceans (today was most certainly not a clear day) however the clouds were almost equally as cool. And to sit on the top and appreciate it with others who also seriously just enjoyed looking at the clouds was great. So although the volcano initially appeared like it was going to be really lame, it turned out to be a pretty sweet time of just relaxing and hanging out.

Then we went into Cartago and we were going to look at the National Church and some old ruins. However there was a funeral, wedding, and red cross training, confessions, and prayers all happening at the church (yes all in the same room, though the wedding occurred after the funeral was done). It was one of the most bizarre experiences because there was a wedding occurring in the middle of a large group of random people just hanging out, taking pictures, doing training, etc. I don’t really understand how that church works, but it was interesting. It felt pretty strange being in there crashing the wedding party, though, so we left. And then we also found out that the old ruins we thought were ancient Mayan ruins or something to that effect were in  reality just the remains from an earthquake of 1926, and we also could not find them, and it started raining… so we returned home. However, once again, I really felt like the overall sentiment was not bitterness or anger, simply a little disappointment and quick transition of direction. Anyway, despite its few disappointments it was still a pleasant day, and such a clear reminder of how much your disposition toward an event can really affect the outcome.

and don't worry, pictures will come one of these days..

Blessings!

Ok, I have been furiously typing lately, so be prepared for a barrage of new posts. hope you enjoy them.

On Friday we went to the San Jose Children’s Hospital. It was once again such a highlight of my week. We went as a full group this time so it was a little different. We did not do any work on equipment but got to see a full tour of the hospital. This hospital was a little larger than some of the other hospitals we have been going to. Señor Martin Valverde gave us a tour to see some of the larger equipment that the hospital had and answered a lot of questions, and he was a fantastic tour guide.

This hospital is the only children’s hospital in Costa Rica. Only children under the age of 13 are allowed to use the hospital. They are one of the more intermediate size hospitals, with 300 beds (although that day they were only about 70% full) and because they are a little larger they are able to receive more money from the government. Unfortunately the costs are still high and there is always a huge need for more money and resources. The technicians only receive $1 million per year to repair all the equipment in the hospital. In Señor Valverde’s opinion, the newer equipment is far superior to old equipment for repairing because the parts are more readily available and designs are using less “kits” (aka some selection of parts that must be replaced on a regular basis). This hospital had a great room to store all the ventilators and incubators that were not in use. The hospital was actually designed and built by North American contractors so it is much more modern. They have a large industrial section in which they have large tanks of liquid oxygen, air compressors, and vacuum that is then pumped throughout the whole hospital. While this is quite typical in developed countries, it was impressive to see here. They also had some extremely new equipment such as a beautiful x-ray machine (apparently one of the only of its kind here in Costa Rica), a TAC machine, and an extremely nice head x-ray machine. These were all extremely impressive to see here, and it was quite apparent to me that this technician, and I am sure many of the people working in the hospital, was amazingly proud of the equipment.

They also had an impressive collection of calibration/testing equipment. This is the first I have seen of its kind here in Costa Rica. Essentially they had lots of tools for testing to ensure that the equipment they repair is functioning properly. One big problem they have with this equipment, however, is that it must be returned to the vendor for calibration every year. This requires that the equipment be sent back to the United States, and not only is this an extremely expensive process, it also means that the equipment will likely be gone for up to 3 months.  That means the hospital only has the equipment for 9 months of every year. Needless to say, much of the equipment has not been calibrated within the suggested time period.

I was also quite impressed to see a woman working as a technician in this department. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to speak with her, but when we asked the head technician he said that many more women are becoming involved in the technical industry.

I also asked Sr. Valverde about whether more of their equipment is donated or purchased. I think at this particular hospital most of their equipment is purchased new, however they do still receive some donations from hospitals in other countries. One issue he mentioned is that the benefits of some of these machines are not enough to outweigh the payments for maintenance, imports, taxes, insurance, etc. I have heard a lot about paying for maintenance and all the small replacement parts required in much of this equipment, but some of those other costs are not things that I have thought about. He compared it to someone giving you a Hummer, and all the hidden costs that arise with having such a nice vehicle. Initially it appears to be a great blessing, however in reality it becomes much more of a burden.

We got back from the hospital around lunchtime and then we went to watch Toy Story 3. However, the movie was only showing in the dubbed version, so I watched it in Spanish. It was AMAZING! I think I enjoyed it so much more because it was in Spanish than I would have if it was in English. I understood all of the plotline, and most of the lines. Of course there were a few that I didn’t quite catch, but overall it was spectacular. I think the best part, though, was the scene in which Buzz goes crazy and switches over to a Spanish accent. I was so proud of myself that I was able to catch the difference and it was hilarious. I just absolutely LOVE being able to sit and have conversations and understand. Yes of course it is still a struggle to speak sometimes, but it is so freeing to be able to mostly understand this other language. I just love it!

Oh we also had dinner at our Spanish professor’s (Gladys) house. She has a gorgeous house and cooked us a delicious meal. It was a lot of fun because one of the other teachers, Harry, is an excellent salsa dancer and I had a great time dancing with him and a few of the other guys on the team. I also got to have some sweet conversations with a few of the team members about what our passions are. I was reminded again of past dreams of working with prostitutes and assisting them in building skills. It is not something I have thought about for a while, but it is cool to think about again and it would be sweet to see if/how I could combine this love for technical work with assisting women out of prostitution. I think there would be a ton of really difficult stereotypes to break, but if that is a door that God opens for me I would love to see where that leads. In all, this trip is still showing me that this type of ministry is still where my heart lies and I am so blessed to be here right now.

Blessings to you all!

Este fin de semana nos fuimos a Manuel Antonio. Fue muy bonito y más divertido que Monte Verde. Yo vi muchos animales como osos perezosos, iguanas, monos, melpechas, y más. Fue mi primer (goal) ver un oso perezoso y cuando vamos salir el parque, vimos lo en un árbol cerca del (path). Mi vida es completa; o lo mínimo eso viaje fue completo.

Ok back to English. I went to Manuel Antonio and had an incredible time! It was extremely relaxing and exciting all at the same time. I went into the national park both days and saw so much wildlife. The first day was more relaxing and hanging out on the gorgeous beach and swimming in the incredibly warm water. Then we got to explore the peninsula for a while and saw a few wombat looking rodent things, some monkeys, and lots of lizards! I think this trip certainly made up for the fact that I didn’t go on the night walk last weekend. The biggest downside of this weekend was that everything was so stinking expensive! As soon as you get into the touristy areas they jack up the prices so much. Anyway, no regrets… The second day we went back into the park and I hiked to a waterfall. I walked the trail barefoot and it was so nice to feel the mud between my toes. I had a few blisters from a few days ago on my feet still, so hopefully I don’t get any scary funguses on my feet any time soon and loose my feet. I will keep you updated on that. So far things appear to be ok still though.  There were so many times this weekend that I just felt so amazingly blessed to be where I was. I am also proud to say that I got my Costa Rican (ok Costa Rican burn) this weekend. It is making it a little difficult to wear my backpack right now, however I can’t return back to the states as white as I started out, so this was a good step in my efforts to become more tan ;) It is interesting because on these trips we spend almost as much time on the bus to and from our destinations as we do time at the destination. The bus ride for this trip was about 4 to 4.5 hours. I really enjoy the bus rides, however, because the countryside is gorgeous and I get to know the others on the trip much better. We definitely have some interesting conversations.

Speaking of interesting conversations, I am definitely enjoying my Spanish class. Every day we talk about some controversial topic (in Spanish) and so far we have covered abortion, gay marriage, right to own weapons, and illegal immigration. We also talk about less serious items, for example the perfect date, strange dreams you have had, fears, habits, etc. We have really covered quite a range of topics. Sometimes it is so frustrating because I cannot convey my point, but it is quite amazing to be able to sit and listen and understand. Spanish is a perpetual struggle for me because I love learning it so much, however it is really quite hard and I am certainly feeling the struggle of being in a class that is over my head. I am really interested to see how next month goes when I have much fewer English speakers around me and when I need to describe to the technicians how to repair the equipment. In our labs in the afternoons our Spanish professor is coming around and listening to us as we work on the equipment and we have to speak in Spanish as much as possible. It is going to be tough for sure, but I am really looking forward to it. I think these weekends away are also screwing me up a bit because I usually don’t speak Spanish at all because when we go to the touristic locations all the workers speak English and don’t really try to speak Spanish to you. And also I am around the whole troupe of English speakers. So I always return from my weekends away and have to re-transition into thinking in Spanish. I think I may stick around San Jose this weekend to save on some cash and save my Spanish thinking mentality.

So for my parents I was going to write a bit about the farming in Costa Rica. As we were riding through the mountains I saw a lot of farms and it was interesting to see the milking barns. They were mostly tiny, maybe 8 cows or so. Cheese is a huge commodity here. Unfortunately it isn’t really my favorite cheese. Actually I have only had one meal here that I did not like at all and it was a grilled cheese sandwich with the nasty Costa Rican cheese. I guess the good news is that I have really enjoyed the food here so far. Oh and if we don’t get the nasty white Costa Rican cheese then we get American Kraft singles… my roommate Margaret says good thing they don’t have the nasty spray cheese here.  I decided that if I every move to Costa Rica I am going to live in a house in the mountains and hang out with the mountain farmers. That sounds like a pretty sweet life to me. I will be the strange American woman that just hangs out and knits sweaters and speaks bad Spanish.

Oh and turns out that sloths are actually called oso perezoso… not oso peligroso. Osos peligroso means dangerous bear…  yeah maybe not an accurate description of a sloth, an animal that can’t even fight off moths. My entire Spanish class has decided to write all of our homework sentences for this evening about bears.

Anyway, time for bed. More class and such tomorrow.  

Blessings!

P

 It has been a few days since I last wrote, so I have plenty to say. I think I will split it into two different blogs postings. The first will be about the hospital in Turrialba. We traveled there this morning, stopped at a little restaurant where I had the best gallo pinto (beans and rice, the breakfast version) I have had in my entire time here. When we arrived at the hospital there was a lot of confusion about what we were supposed to do. At San Ramon they were much more organized and eager to show us what they do and hear what we do. At Turrialba only one of the technicians came on the tour with us and none of the rest of the technicians really talked to us at all. However, once we started the tour it was SO interesting. We got to go into all parts of the hospital and look at the pertinent machines. It was great to see the anesthetic machines, suction pumps, pulse oximeters, autoclaves, etc. that we have been learning about in our classes. It is so different to see things in real life than in the classes. I think the strangest experience was that we went right into rooms where there were patients and looked at equipment. I felt really disrespectful, like I was taking a tour of the zoo. However, we were as respectful as possible and it was nice to see where each piece of equipment is used. We also walked straight into the “sterile” surgery room; however we did not get scrubbed up and sterile. And once we left the room we left the door open. I found that extremely strange. Also they just left equipment running after they were done showing it to us. I can see now why there are strained relationships between doctors and technicians. If there is not respect for the space and equipment there is not going to be any respect for the people. Also, as we toured the hospital we saw a lot of equipment just being stored in the hallways. This was crazy to me as that would never be seen in an American hospital! Apparently they just don’t even have enough space to store equipment, so it sits in the hall until it is needed for a procedure.

                We also got to work on some of the equipment in the repair shop. What I have discovered, though, is they give us all the equipment that they have tried to work on, are unable to fix, and often the equipment is on its way out of service. It is basically impossible to actually repair any of this equipment so it is frustrating to spend time “working” on the equipment with hopes that it will be repaired where in reality if we do “fix” anything I don’t really feel like it will be put back into service anyway. However, it is really interesting to take apart some of this equipment and see what happens underneath and I think it will be so much better having some knowledge of what problems could be as we head out to our hospitals next month.  One of the machine I worked on today was an ECG machine. I found that the battery terminal was corroded, when I knew exactly how to fix because the terminals on my car often become corroded. Turns out my experience working on my car has come in handy after all!

                As far as specs of the hospital, it was 150 beds that serve about 1000 people per day. The region of Turrialba serves 300,000 people and I believe is the only hospital in the area. It seems insane to me to have so many people that use one hospital. Hopefully they don’t have any epidemics soon.

                I think that our experience today may be more similar to what I experience next month, but I am not sure. It will be so interesting to see how it goes next month! Anyway, next week we get to tour the children’s hospital in San Jose. So far these hospital experiences have been really great, so I am very much looking forward to seeing more.

Ok I have run out of time for writing right now, but I will do so again soon. Now we are headed off to Manuel Antonio beach.

Blessings!

This past weekend we went ziplining through the rainforest in Monte Verde. It was incredible! I don't think words can even describe how exhilarating it is to be basically flying through so much greenery! I have only one regret from the weekend which is a group from the team went on a night walk in the rainforest and saw so many cool animals and I did not go because I was too tired and cold.. I am SO SAD that I missed that opportunity and I have vowed to not have any more regrets from this vacation! It was quite a disappointment when the team all returned and said that they saw sloths and tarantulas and big bugs etc. It would have been amazing! however, there is still so much exciting stuff to do here that I am sure I will not be disappointed in the rest of my time. But the zipline was all I had hoped for. It is hard to put word, so I will simply exhort you all to do your darndest to go ziplining at some point in your life. I also really enjoyed the four hour bus rides to and from the town. It was sweet time to get to know the others a little better and I had some interesting discussions, tough religious debates, and altogether nice time with all the people on 

  Today we went to the hospital in San Ramon. It was about at 2 hour bus ride so we woke up at 5am to get to school by 6:30. I definitely have been waking up much earlier here than when I am in school! I also usually go to bed around 9 or 10 every night. Haha so much for living up the night life of San Jose ;)

But anyway, back to the hospital visit. It was all I could have hoped for and more! We started with a brief meeting with the director of engineering and all his technicians, about 5 or 6 in total. They gave us a brief description of the health care system in Costa Rica. It was really interesting. Apparently it is broken up into several parts, but the largest and most important part is the CCSS (Caja Costaricense Seguridad Social I think). All Tikos (Costa Ricans) pay into the CCSS from their wages and therefore receive all health care for free. Everyone, regardless of income, pays 9.25% of their income to this. Therefore, those who don’t have jobs and are homeless don’t pay anything, and they still receive exactly equal healthcare to those who are quite wealthy. Of course there is still a small private sector of health care that costs quite a lot. This hospital served about 160,000 people in the local area and has only 102 beds. Quite a small hospital for so many people! I asked several of them if they liked this system, and everyone I spoke to seems to think it is an incredible system! Even Katia , our host mom, likes it. Apparently the people here are much more generous than Americans ;) I don’t really think that it would work out as well in the states.

After this discussion we got to go look at some of the broken equipment. We had small hopes that we would actually get to repair some, but it was really interesting to actually see some of the equipment that we have been looking at in class for the past few days. It is so much easier to understand what is happening when you actually see the equipment first hand.  And all the technicians were so excited to have us there and eager to answer questions. It was an amazingly interesting time of half Spanish/half English conversations. My Spanish is already getting SO much better, and I think that because I am one of the more outspoken in the group I am speaking much more, though I am by no means the best speaker of the group. But the Tikos did compliment me on my Spanish, so that was encouraging ;) However I think it is because they only heard me speak in the present tense at that point. Haha. I am blessed living with four girls who all speak really well too so we help each other along quite a lot! The hospital also had a Mariposeria basically a butterfly garden! It was so pretty! I think we could definitely inspire a lot of healing if we had those in all our hospitals. This was one of the larger hospitals in the Country and they had a lot of modern equipment. I felt very privileged because we got to go into a lot of the behind the scenes locations and see what they do in blood analysis, x-ray, laundry, etc. And because I am the only ME I got to go look at the boilers ;) I think my favorite machine was the sheet folder. It is used to dry, press, and fold sheets and it is an incredible feat of engineering! I have some pics but I need a little more time to upload them. Of course me being the ridiculous person that I am I put in like 3 or 4 sheets. I am beginning to think I may be a little too outgoing for my own good… but it is so much more interesting when you jump to the front and get to be hands on.  It was so great to see what really goes on in these hospitals and see some equipment. And also see how welcoming and friendly all of the staff were. Some of the staff was asking me questions, which was so strange because I certainly don’t think I know more than they do. But there were amazingly respectful and we had a lot of fun! I am really looking forward to our hospital visit next week as well.

Oh and I almost forgot! When I was talking to the director about social security, I was trying to ask what the impression of the tikos is of the CCSS so I used the word impreción. However, impreción actually means pressure.. so really I was asking what the pressure of the Tikos is of the CCSS. Haha oops.. oh well there will probably be a few more of those mishaps before the summer is over.

This weekend we are going to Monte Verde to go ziplining! I am SO excited and I think it will be incredibly beautiful. So when I write next I will include some picture of that.  Actually it is about 5am right now and I need to go finish packing cause we leave in half an hour. but internet usage is precious and hard to get sometimes.

There is always so much to write about, but I think this is probably good for now.

Blessings!

So today was my third day of classes and this is certainly NOT vacation. They have us working really hard! I am in the 4th level (of 4) for spanish classes. It is a little more advanced than I am probably ready for, but I wanted a little more of a challenge. It is pretty cool because we spend most of our time just talking and practicing, but it is hard to conjugate everything correctly. Not to mention finding the right words to use. But after four hours of spanish class every morning I find myself thinking of spanish sentences for about 30 minutes afterward. And I always want to throw spanish words into my english sentences as well! I suppose these are all great things,but my brain is always tired at the end of the day.


Not to mention the engineering side! They have us learning about autoclaves, fluid pumps, soldering, circuits, blood pressure devices.. and that is only the first three days! But it is SO interesting! I feel like I have a much better grasp of some of these machines than some of the other BMED students because I have a mechanical engineering background that gives me more exposure to things like motors, pumps, etc. Nothing is really entirely new, though it is new applications of things that I have seen before. I think I am appreciating my Cal Poly education more and more every day because I really feel like I know a lot! And my partner for next month, Amber, is really good at a lot of the circuit stuff so I think we are going to me a really useful team. I am excited to be working in the hospitals next month.


This friday we are going to do our first hospital day and just go in and see what they do. It should be pretty interesting. But not as exciting as ziplining this weekend! I think just about the entire team is trying to go ziplining in Monteverde this weekend. I like our team because we have not segregated much. We all hang out with everyone, and it doesn't seem like there are many cliques. 


It is still raining.. a lot... and we experience our first power outage yesterday when a huge lightening bolt struck the school. We weren't able to complete our lab because we needed power for our soldering irons but we didn't have it. I am also pretty excited about all the practical skills I am learning! I learned how to make an extension chord yesterday and I think we are going to learn how to make a flashlight or something too. I feel like I will be so handy at the end of this summer!


Now I need to go write a story about a comic strip that we were given.. hopefully that goes well. Tonight I think we are going to a jazz cafe for one of our teammates birthdays. Should be pretty fun!


Neway. Prayer requests right now would be that I continue to build relationships with my roommates, host family, and the other students and that my brain does not start to hurt too bad ;)


Blessings to you all!

  Well I can now die a happy person. Yesterday I went rafting in the rainforest!!! It was everything I could have ever hoped for and more. We went down the Pacuare river and ended up in the Carribean. My guide was named Dias and he was the perfect rafting guide. He made sure to get us into all the right rapids and on the slower level one rapids he went all out. During one we had three rower sit backwards and we all paddled forward so we went down spinning. One we all had to close our eyes through the rapid and during one I sat on the front of the raft with my feet out of the boat and tried to stay on. Dias was so funny with his crazy antics. The picture above is our team. Dias came to me and jumped in my arms and told me he wanted me to hold him for the picture. And he said he felt very safe in my arms.. oh Dias. I can definitely see how the guides work their charm on the ladies to get tips.

It was just so incredible to be out in such beauty and see and hear so many creatures and so many different kinds of vegetation. I am so amazed that there can be so many different kinds of creatures.

When we came home we just hung out and chatted. I really feel like I have been here for weeks and there are a few people I feel like I have been able to chat a lot with, but then I realize that there are several people I have not spoken with at all and then I realize again that I have only been here fore less than three days!

Today we went and explored San Jose a bit more. It is difficult with so many people, as about 20 of us got together to go exploring. We all have different ideas about what we want to do and where we want to go and with so many people it is hard to make decisions. But we finally left and started our trek downtown. About as soon as we got there I decided to show off my street dancing skills in the public square. Unfortunately the ground won in the dance off and I scraped up my foot…. Ok so I wasn’t actually street dancing I just fell down a step and scraped my foot. But I did catch myself sort-of and apparently it resembled a sweet break dancing move… or my friends were just being nice :p

So we had to wander around to find band-aids because none of us were prepared for injury and I was bleeding all over my shoe… bummer. Turns out my knowledge of Spanish words for medicine and band-aids are fairly limited because I had no idea what to say at the store, but I am sure that will change by the end of this trip.

However, my Spanish is already getting so much better and I had two conversations with store clerks fully in Spanish and I did not even have to ask them to repeat themselves. I do think it is fairly based on how they speak and what the topic is though! I even managed to haggle down the price of a sweet purse in Spanish. So exciting haha!

Turns out I have a really good sense of direction and was able to find my way around fairly well simply based on what I have seen while in the bus going in and out of the city. That is certainly a handy skill to have! I also lost my roommates today since we ended up in different groups.  As of right now they actually still have not returned, so I hope they are not still wandering around looking for me!

  I think the most exciting news, though, is that I have built friendships with Grace and JJ, both of whom are Christians and I am hoping to start up a prayer time once a week at lunch. I think it will be so sweet to pray and build each other up. I spoke to JJ about it today and he is totally down, and I am sure Grace will be as well. God is so faithful to provide Christians in my life and that support that I really need. Praise God! I am hoping that we can invite others to join as well and just share our faith more in that way.

Ok, this is already exceedingly long, so I will end it for now. Thanks for your prayers!