¿Por qué no?

Why not?

Yesterday was just a fantastic day altogether! At Veritas, the international students studying medicine held a Health Fair with different stands set up. At the stand run by the students in my Tropical Medicine course, we measured BMI, blood glucose levels, and blood pressure. It may sound boring, but I actually had a lot of fun during my shift! Dr. Abarca taught me how to properly prick a finger and use a blood glucose meter. Some people weren't so fond of being pricked, if you can imagine! Dr. Abarca told us to assume that every person is infected with HIV, so I had to be extra cautious with the blood samples and needle. I learned that a normal blood glucose level, after 8 hours of fasting, should be between 60 and 100. 
After my shift, I grabbed a quick lunch with my friend Anne and headed to do my second and final patient simulation. Easy as pie! After my simulation, I headed down to check out the other stands at the health fair. To my benefit, the professor of the Alternative Medicine class was performing acupuncture at their stand. Of course I waited in line for about 30 minutes! It was worth it too!  Not only did he give me acupuncture, but he popped my joints and gave me a massage as well. I felt great afterward! 

I then headed back up to my Spanish class, and Ronulfo (my teacher) corrected a few grammatical mistakes that we had made as a whole. He then gave us some advice for practicing and improving our Spanish: watch Spanish-speaking movies with English subtitles, read libros de los niños (children's books) in Spanish, and talk in Spanish with each other via Facebook or whatever method we use to keep in touch. Although our class was significantly more difficult than the others, I'm really glad that Ronulfo challenged us. I realized yesterday that I have learned so much! I struggled a lot with verb tenses, and he helped me a ton! Although the class was for 5 hours Monday through Thursday, it didn't feel like it because we were always doing different activities to practice our Spanish. In my Spanish courses in the States, I could write in Spanish easily. Speaking, not so much. In Costa Rica, the main focus of my Spanish class was conversation. I'm so grateful!
Last night, all of the ISA students went to Café Britt for a farewell dinner (this week is Summer 4's last week, because they are only taking Spanish). We got a coffee tour, and then they served us dinner! They gave us free samples of chocolate-covered coffee beans...let's just say it was a little difficult for me to fall asleep last night :)

¿Cómo anda?

How's it going?
[Costa Rican Slang]


Yesterday was such a great day! No school! Woo hoo! Yesterday was the Costa Rican national holiday of the Anexión del Partido de Nicoya (The Annexation of Nicoya), or commonly known as Guanacaste Day. July 25th celebrates the day that Guanacaste joined Costa Rica, which means that many schools and businesses were closed. Howeverrrr, the malls were not!! And we all know what that means :) (Sorry, Dad)
To start my day, I went on a run with Katie around El Parque de Dos Lagos (The Park of Two Lakes). They're not really lakes, however, they're just two ponds. But it was a nice run! For a country that places such a strong emphasis on environmental awareness, it's kind of ironic that the parks have excessive amounts of litter. 
After the run, I ate breakfast, showered, and met up with Katie, Nicole, Lily, and Caroline at Veritas. We grabbed a taxi and headed downtown to the Artesian Market. 

That's just one end of it! I got some pretty awesome stuff, which I won't describe because most of them are gifts :). We then grabbed lunch at Quizno's (why hello, Westernization), and searched for Museo de Los Niños for about an hour in the pouring rain. What a smart idea I had to not bring an umbrella! I should have known better by now! After realizing that we received 5 different directions from 5 different people, we gave up our search, hopped in a taxi, and headed to the San Pedro Mall. We decided that it was a perfect day for a movie! We saw Quiero a Matar Mi Jefe (I Want to Kill My Boss), which is the U.S.'s movie Horrible Bosses. The film was actually in English with Spanish subtitles. We thought it would be the reverse! Anyway, it was a hilarious movie. Highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good laugh. The movie didn't start until 4:30, and we arrived at the mall around 3. So, we decided to walk around and check out the stores and such. We found a smoothie stand called "Sweet Fruits" and got amazing smoothies made with fresh fruit! 

After the movie, we all headed back home. I ate dinner with Emy, Darrian, and Tonio, studied for my Spanish test, and hit the hay. 


After working out at Diamond Gym this morning, I ate breakfast, got ready for school, and headed to Veritas. In Costa Rican Health Care and Tropical Medicine, we learned about the different types of worms and their effects on the human body. Yuck! Tropical diseases are not very pretty, I'll tell you that much. They're incredibly interesting to learn about, however. I really like my teacher in that class. He's a practicing physician, but he told us from the start that he doesn't believe in tests. However, we have take-home tests and analyses that we have to write. It's not that bad of a work load, especially when you're in Costa Rica. I mean, who can study when they're in a foreign country? 
Anyway, tomorrow is the Health Fair, which makes up a large part of our grade for both Medical Spanish and Costa Rican Health Care and Tropical Medicine courses. My group had to translate a brochure from english to spanish about the proper way to wash your hands. I was assigned the responsibility of making it. It was actually kind of fun! I had never made a brochure before, and Pages has a good program for it. 
Dr. Abarcas let us out early today, so my friend Anne and I took a taxi to the Terminal del Caribe to buy our bus tickets for this upcoming weekend. Because we don't have an excursion planned for this weekend, a group of ISA students is taking a bus to Puerto Viejo. Beach time!! Pray for good weather! After buying our tickets, I went home, worked on the brochure for tomorrow, ate lunch, then headed to Spanish class. 
In Spanish today, we took our second and last "examen corto" (short exam). Corto...yeah RIGHT! It took us an hour and a half to complete this time! The first exam took maybe 30 minutes at most. As a result, I didn't get out of class until 6:30. I was completely brain dead. Luckily, Emy had dinner ready so she, Tonio, Darrian, and I sat down and ate a dinner of sauteed veggies and arroz de calamares (rice with squid). Interesting combo, but interestingly delicious! After dinner, I visited with Tonio and Emy for awhile. It's amazing how much easier conversations in Spanish are getting! When talking in English to other Americans, I actually find myself using some Spanish words and thinking in Spanish! It's crazy, but I'm so thankful for this opportunity to be learn another language! I'm earnestly hoping that it will benefit me in the medical field. 
After dinner, Darrian and I went to the dance class that Veritas offers. This class is getting pretty difficult, no lie! Before tonight, I hadn't been since the very first class! I was so lost, but they helped me catch up quickly. I'm becoming the regular salsa/merengue dancer! (Not really, but I'm working on it!) 
Ahora es tiempo para dormir. ¡Sueños dulces!
(Now it's time for bed. Sweet dreams!)

¡El Fin de Semana en Monteverde!

The Weekend in Monteverde!


About 4 hours after our departure from San Jose on Friday, we arrived at Los Establos Resort in Monteverde! The Resort was gorgeous! We had an amazing view of the Monteverde Cloud Forest and (when it wasn't cloudy) the Nicoya Bay! 

After checking in, we went to our assigned rooms, basked in our nice living quarters briefly, and headed down to the resort restaurant for a huge buffet dinner! All our meals were included this past weekend, which means all of us probably gained about 10 pounds after less than 3 days of the hotel meals. The buffet was big and delicious, and who can resist overeating at a buffet? After dinner, we took a shuttle back up to our rooms (the resort was on a very steep incline), and some of us laid down to look at the stars. I wanted so badly to take a picture of it! It was kind of cloudy, but we could see the majority of the Milky Way. Absolutely gorgeous!
The next morning, I woke up, ate breakfast with some friends, and some of the students then headed out to the canopy tour! It was a blast! After about 7 or 8 ziplines (I lost track), we did a Tarzan swing. It was such a huge adrenaline rush! The workers don't give you time to back out, however. So as soon as you walk up, they start fastening you in, and before you know it, you're free falling for about 5 seconds until the rope catches you and you swing back and forth. The workers also try to distract you while they're fastening you in. When I walked up, one of them told me that I had "ojos lindos" (pretty eyes) and asked me what colors were in them. I loved the compliment until I got to the bottom and the other girls were talking about how he told them they had "ojos lindos" as well -- haha!  

After the canopy tour, we returned to the resort to eat a quick lunch, then headed out to the Cloud Forest to go for a hike! I'm still sore from it! We hiked for about an hour and a half, reaching an elevation around 4,500 feet! The trek was well worth it! I actually stood on the continental divide once we reached the top! Actually, only 2% of the Earth's surface is covered by cloud forests. We didn't see a lot of wildlife because we went around 3 (most wildlife comes out at dusk or dawn), but the vegetation was beautiful, as was the Divide!

We returned to the hotel, and a bunch of us went to the so-called "heated" pool. No es cierto! (False!) It was colder outside of the pool than inside, guaranteed. However, my cold-natured body acquired permanent goosebumps Saturday! It was chilly and rainy all day long (hence the rainforest)! As soon as I got back to my room, I filled up the bathtub with piping hot water and jumped right in! Perfect after a long day! I got ready, headed down to dinner, hung out with some friends for a little while, and headed to bed. I wasn't feeling too hot. I'm not sure if it was my lack of sleep or the cold weather, but I felt a bit of a cold coming on, and I wasn't about to push it. Can't be sick in Costa Rica!
The next morning, a few friends and I ate breakfast and walked around for a little bit. I went back up to the room and laid in my amazingly comfortable bed, packed up, ate lunch, and then headed back to San Jose.  It was such a relaxing weekend! 

¡Lo Siento!

I'm sorry!

I've been so awful about updating this! It's been a busy week. Okay so...

Wednesday

Woke up and went to the gym! I tried a pilates class...kicked my butt, even in Spanish! Haha. I came back home, ate some breakfast, and finished up a paper for my Costa Rican Health Care and Tropical Medicine course. The paper was a page of my opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of socialized and privatized health care. Then, I ate lunch at a pizzeria with some friends and headed to Spanish class! After class, I ate dinner and got ready to go to the movies with some friends. Well, Wednesday night is half-price at the movie theatre. So naturally, the movie was sold out. So instead, Michael, Darrian, Jon, and I walked around the mall and got some ice cream at Pops.

I got blackberry sherbert! ¡Delicioso! We took a taxi back to mi casa. Michael and Emy played some Wii while the rest of us watched. She plays every night, so she beat him, of course! I think it was a shot to his pride - haha! Afterwards, Michael, Jon, and I headed to the bar Los Profesionales.
Yesterday
Woke up and went to a cycling class at the gym. Common phrase of cycling class: más fuerte (stronger). Then, I came home, ate some breakfast, did a little homework, ate lunch at Musa Confusa (my favorite), and headed to Spanish class! Yet another 10-minute presentation, this time about tropical diseases. I spoke about Malaria. Tropical diseases are pretty gruesome! In Spanish, we're working a lot on our verb tenses. There are SO many verb tenses! It's ridiculous! Anyway, class was let out early so that we could get "bonita" for the Crash party at Veritas that night. It was really cool! There was a live band, art exhibit, and food vendors. After the Crash party, some of us went to La Calle (literally, the street) and went to some bars! Quite an interesting night, but it was a lot of fun!
Today
My Tropical Medicine and Health Care class went to Hospital Clinica Biblica!

"It's a girl" - Melts my heart

Amazing verse. Especially in a hospital.

More to come after the weekend at Monteverde! ¡Adios!

¡Te extraño mucho, Lizzy Ormsby!

I miss you a lot, Lizzy Ormsby!


[A blog post dedicated to my roomie for life/bestie/partner in crime]


Yesterday, I woke up bright and early, as usual (Sleeping isn't really an option when you have 4 lovely birds squawking right outside your room- haha), and went to the gym with Katie. I then came back, ate breakfast, did some homework, and got ready for school. I then went to eat with Jackie, Sydney, and Tien at the cutest little café that I'm obsessed with. It's called Musa Confusa. I got the "especialidad de hoy," or special of the day. It was baked eggplant with tomato sauce, basil, and cheese, accompanied by rice, vegetables, a salad, and mango juice. 

¡Que rico! In Spanish class yesterday, we learned about the future tense. After class, I came home, ate a dinner of a Costa Rican spaghetti, and did homework until midnight. I had to do a take home test for Tropical Medicine. I also had to write a presentation for Spanish about a Costa Rican home remedy. I wrote about aloe vera. You wouldn't believe all the health benefits of aloe vera! It's not only used for sunburns, but it's been proven to decrease balding, hydrate dry skin, aid diabetics, regulate your digestion (when drank), and many other benefits! I had to bring the plant to class; luckily, my Mama Tica has an aloe vera plant in front of the house, so she cut a leaf off for me. Got an A on the presentation!:)
This morning, I went on a run with other ISA students Daniel, Lance, and Jackie. It was my first time to actually run through San Jose! I was enjoying it so much that I didn't even realize that we ran for an hour! It was such a gorgeous day! No rain, for once! My Spanish teacher let us sit outside for a little bit of class. After school, I played some basketball with some of my friends at a nearby park. And now, I'm going to do some homework! ¡Buenas!

El Fin de Semana en La Volcán Arenal

The Weekend at Arenal Volcano


This weekend was a blast! We left Friday around one, arriving at Arenal Volcano around 5. We stayed at a resort called Los Lagos, which had an amazing view of the volcano. It also had 5 different hot springs. As you venture up the hill, each hot spring gets warmer. So naturally, we had to check out the hot springs and slides the first night of our visit. One slide was, in my opinion, better and faster than any slide I've been on in water parks! 

The next day, I woke up early to go biking through the tropical rain forest. What an experience! I highly recommend it to anyone. Only 3 of the ISA students signed up, but it was actually better that way, because we were able to ask more questions to the tour guide. My knowledge of the Costa Rican flora and fauna has expanded substantially because of that bike ride- haha! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. We saw howler monkeys, toucans, white-nosed coati, and orioles! Not to mention the lush vegetation! All the natural attractions of Costa Rica never cease to amaze me. We biked about 12 miles around El Lago Arenal (Lake Arenal) at the base of Arenal Volcano. 

Although it doesn't look like it here, the trek was anything but easy! The majority of it was rocky and uphill, but it was so worth it! At the end, we stopped at a river and ate pineapple, mango, and bananas. I was telling the tour guide about how much better the fruit is here. He informed me that the reason the fruit has more taste in Costa Rica than the States is because they pick the fruit when it's green, then ship it to America. However, in Costa Rica, they pick the fruit at just the right moment, so it is able to absorb more flavor. Anyway, when I got back to the resort, we took the buses into a nearby town called La Fortuna, where some girls and I ate lunch at a restaurant called The Lava Lounge (cute, right?) and piddled around town for a bit. There were stray dogs EVERYWHERE! In the restaurants, walking around the streets. It was so discomforting :(. There is over 1 million stray dogs in Costa Rica. How sad is that! I wanted to give them my whole meal, but I'm pretty sure the restaurant owner wouldn't have been too pleased with me. We grabbed some ice cream (lime sherbert-yumm!) then went to a coffee shop called Down to Earth Coffee and learned about the process of coffee-making. 

This is a Costa Rican coffee-maker. They put the beans in the bag, then pour hot water on the beans. We're a bit more modernized, but their coffee is 10 times better!
*To all you coffee-drinkers: The best coffee is harvested at an altitude between 3,000 and 5,000 feet!Also, go for the light roast- it has more caffeine, and is better for your metabolism!
The girls and I then took a taxi back to the resort. My friend Nicole and I walked around the crocodile exhibit at Los Lagos, went back to the room, and got ready for dinner. After dinner at the resort, some girls and I got ready together to go out. We went to the guys' room and hung out, then took a taxi to a bar called Los Establos. A lot of the ISA students were there, and we danced all night long! 

The next day, the students on the "orange" bus (there is 3 buses: blue, yellow, and orange; Blue and yellow went on Saturday while we were hanging out in town) woke up bright and early and went to La Fortuna Waterfall. 

One word: breathtaking. The whole time I was at the waterfall, I thought about how profound God's power and love is. He created the world in his likeness. I couldn't stop thinking about how long and hard he must have worked to perfect this waterfall, but he did it out of love! I didn't want to leave! But we went back to the resort after an hour, packed up, and headed back to San Jose. Great weekend! We have an awesome group of students. 

¡No Soy Un Gringo Pinto!

I'm not a gringo!


In Costa Rica, "gringo pinto" is the Tico term for Caucasians who try to speak Spanish, but fail miserably in their pronunciation. The term is originally gringo, but the Ticos put their own little spin to it, incorporating the terminology of their common dish of "gallo pinto" (rice and beans). 
Yet another fun fact of the day!
Yesterday I had my very first test in Intermediate Spanish! It actually wasn't too difficult. We were tested over medical vocabulary, commands, the past verb tense, and the questions used to acquire information about a patient.  It's interesting how they've managed to combine Health and Spanish into a single course. Although my Spanish professor is definitely more meticulous than my Spanish teachers at home, I think he has played a huge part in my improvement. I catch myself remembering his lectures while speaking Spanish to my Tica Madre. In Spanish class today, we had our midterm: a patient simulation. In a patient simulation, we (the students) pretend to be a doctor speaking to a patient. We had to acquire the patient's general information (date of birth, address, telephone, family history, etc.) and give them commands in order to take their blood pressure, measure their height, and weigh them. I was kind of nervous, but it turned out well I think! 
I was relieved after the tests, because my professor let us out about an hour early both days! I came home yesterday, laid down hoping for a little siesta, reached for my eye mask, and it was gone! Who would've thought that little dog Nano snatched it off my night stand?! So much for that nap. Emy was kind enough to wash it for me, though. 
It's finally the weekend!!! About time. Tomorrow, we leave for Arenal Volcano! I'll be sure to post about my adventures at the end of the weekend! ¡Hasta luego!