Weekend adventures!

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Since arriving in Costa Rica, I've taken three weekend trips, both of which have been simply amazing!  I'll just tell you about the first two for now, and after this weekend I'll write about two more!

--> My first weekend here, I ventured down to Manuel Antonio, which is Costa Rica's most frequented national park, and also one of its smallest!  Why is it so highly reputed?  The wildlife and the beaches.  Walking through the park, you may be lucky enough to see monkeys, sloths, raccoons, butterflies and many kinds of birds among the lush, green rainforest.  Then, after about 20 minutes of walking, you reach some of the most stunning beaches I've ever seen.  Secluded, pristine, and quiet, with warm water and just enough breeze - talk about a peaceful retreat.

Then, two weekends ago, I went to La Fortuna, a small town lying at the foot of Arenal, one of the active volcanoes in Costa Rica.  I went with the two volunteers that arrived the week beforehand - Casey and Karlee.  We all get along really well and have similar goals when traveling, which makes weekend trips so fun and stress free.  It took us a while to get out to La Fortuna (about 5 hours by bus after waking up at the crack of dawn), but we finally made it, only to be greeted by a SCRUMPTIOUS welcome drink at our hostel!  Pura vida, right?  We then quickly headed out to go zip-lining - it was my first time, and it was absolutely stunning.  Plus, we were the only 3 in our zip-lining group, which meant less waiting and more funky poses (see photo evidence)!  Then we headed to some of the natural hot spring rivers near the mountain - the water is heated by the lava flowing under the ground.  Some places build pools and bring the naturally heated water in, but we went to a local sanctuary - natural streams with no entrance fee.  You just have to be able to find it!

The next day, we woke up early and embarked on what we thought would be a relaxing, relatively flat hike.  Hahahahhaha.  Boy, were we mistaken.  What we got was an extremely difficult hike up to an inactive volcano next to Arenal that now has a lagoon at the top of it.  In some parts, the slope was about 75º or more.  Pretty ridiculous.  But we trekked on and made it to the top, taking in the unbelievable views along the way.  Of course, the hike down was no picnic either, but it was all worth it for the experience and the feeling of accomplishment!  Finally, we took a quick peek at the massive waterfall near Arenal before heading back to San Jose for another week of work.

In short, I'm having an incredible time exploring Costa Rica.  My internship is not all that I expected or hoped for, but I feel so blessed to just be able to experience the country that my older sister, Emmy, fell in love with.  I know she's here with me, enjoying the sun (with loads of sun screen), the wildlife and the people.  It really is a beautiful country, and I just know she's enjoying it with me every step of the way.

~~~

This weekend, I'm off to Santa Barbara.  Yay for more adventures!

My first full week of work!

Warning: long post ahead!  I wanted to take time to explain what a typical week will look like for me while I'm interning here in Costa Rica.  So, we'll just start with my first full week of work!

Monday – Monday I went to the EBAIS in Santa Rosa.  In Costa Rica, there are three levels of care facilities: EBAIS (similar to general/family practices), clinics (which may have several doctors and a few specialists in house) and hospitals.  At the EBAIS, I shadowed Dra. Alvarez for the day.  We saw a lot of kids that day, mostly under the age of three and just there for a checkup to make sure they were growing properly and eating well.  There’s also a stomach virus going around giving lots of people diarrhea and nausea, so we saw a few patients experiencing those symptoms.  Several “control” patients came in as well.  These are mostly diabetics or people with high blood pressure (or both) coming in to check their vitals and renew their prescriptions.  Dra. Alvarez was really nice and was pretty good at explaining things along the way, but she didn’t have much time to do so, as she had to keep every appointment to 15 minutes long.  She even had to essentially kick one woman out who kept asking questions, making her appointment last about 30 minutes (God forbid).  There was another student shadowing her as well – Fabian.  He’s about to start his final year of medical school here in Costa Rica.  He obviously knew much more than I did, but was very nice and wasn’t condescending about the fact that I haven’t even a clue about where I’ll be attending med school at this point!

Tuesday I returned to the same EBAIS and worked with Dra. Alvarez again.  Fabian was there again as well.  The morning was much the same as Monday, but in the afternoon, Dra. Alvarez ran the breast clinic.  We saw a few women just coming in for routine checkups because of high risk for breast cancer, as well as a couple women who had recently had surgery to remove a lump.  Even though it was more repetitive in some ways than the morning was, I found it really interesting.  It was also quite a nice break from the cases of diarrhea!

Wednesday – Wednesday I went to a new location – La Clínica Central de Santo Domingo.  There, I was in the emergency department.  Kim, the other volunteer with my program, was also there.  Although the vast majority of people who came in didn’t have an emergency, or didn’t seem to have anything wrong with them at all for that matter, it was still an interesting day.  I shadowed the head of the department (I don’t know his name…everyone calls him “El Jefe” – the boss), who was great at walking me through everything, allowing me to listen and feel along the way.  The only emergency of the day was an approximately 7-year-old boy who had fallen while running, as many little kids do, and split his lip open.  He needed two stitched in his lip – easy, right?  Ha.  I don’t think he could have made it more difficult for the doctors.  He kicked and screamed the entire time and it took 3 doctors to hold him down so that El Jefe could give him stitches.  Personally, I don’t think I would be quite comfortable sticking a needle into the face of a kicking, screaming kid, but that’s why I’m not the boss (yet)!

Thursday – Every Thursday, our schedule changes a bit and we attend one or two medical lectures in the morning at a private hospital in San Jose and then spend the afternoon at a non-profit organization called Obras del Espíritu Sanctu where there is a free clinic for people without health care.  This past Thursday, our schedule was a bit more of a deviation.  After one lecture about obesity in the morning, I had most of the day off before attending two lectures at a medical conference in the evening.  Of course, our supervisor failed to tell us that these talks were part of a very formal medical conference, so Kim and I were a bit underdressed, but it was alright.  The two talks we attended were about pain management and were very obviously endorsed by Pfizer to promote specific medications.  That being said, the first of the two talks was very good.  The second, well…the man spoke a million miles a minute and still didn’t get through his entire presentation.  Of course, they waited until after both these talks finished (around 9 pm) to feed everyone, which I don’t think was their best strategy, unless they wanted to guarantee that everyone would be in a bad mood throughout the presentations.  Ah well.  The food finally came, and it was DELICIOUS.  I’ve only been in Costa Rica about two weeks, but I’ve already had a life time’s share of rice and beans, so this dinner was a welcome change, complete with red wine and chocolate mousse at the end!  YUM.

Friday was an early, but very short day.  We attended a clinical session that consisted of three different specialists analyzing a patient’s progression of symptoms in the time leading up to his/her death.  It was way too early for me (it started at 7), but it was really interesting and a very thorough exploration of the patient’s symptoms.

Whew!  Well, that’s about it for my first full week of work.  Stay tuned to hear about the weekend adventures I’ve had thus far, and the little cultural tidbits I’ve picked up on!

~Pura vida~

Hot showers are heaven

BIG NEWS in the life of CBK!  I had my first warm shower in 10 days today.  It was pretty amazing.

On another, but still bathroom-related note, I realize I failed to mention one very fun fact about Costa Rica - the plumbing system is not equipped to handle toilet paper.  Thus, you can't flush it and all toilet paper must be put into a trash can in the bathroom.  This is a huge departure for me, and you'd be amazed at how automatic it is to just throw toilet paper in the toilet when you're done with it.  I've made the mistake many times, and the remedy is not fun, but I would rather not damage the plumbing at my homestay and have to pay God knows how much to fix it.  (I was told that if I was determined to be the cause of a blockage or problem, I would be responsible for any costs associated with fixing it)  Woo!!!

Today at work was an interesting day.  Pretty slow, but still interesting.  I went to work in Santo Domingo at the central clinic there and was in Emergencies all day.  Nothing of great interest came through today, and the people who did show up in the Emergency Dept. didn't seem to me to be experiencing any health emergency at all.  For some of them, the head doctor pretty much said that they needed to go to a normal doctor's office (here called an EBAIS).  The only real emergency that came through was a boy of about 7 years old who had fallen while running (as so many little kids do) and split his lip open.  He needed a couple stitches, but it wasn't anything too major.  Unfortunately, he screamed as if he were in Hell and kicked and flailed in every direction.  I'm sure the entire clinic heard him crying and screaming.  It then took 3 full grown men to hold the boy down while they gave him stitches.  I was just glad that I wasn't the one trying to stick a needle into the face of a boy who was doing everything he could to escape my grasp.

Another thing I've picked up on thus far is the huge difference between patient confidentiality here and in the U.S.  Here, patients are constantly asked to call in the next patient when leaving the room, doctors talk about patients in front of other patients, etc.

But right now, I am absolutely falling asleep because of all the working out I did with my long afternoon, so tomorrow I'll explain a bit about the health system here and the differences between it and healthcare in the US.

Love you all!

Settling in

Well, now I'm off on my next international adventure - a medical internship in Heredia, Costa Rica!  I am so excited to see what this trip has in store.  It'll certainly be a huge change from my semester abroad, where I knew several people going with me and saw them everywhere.  This time, I've embarked on my own.  I came in knowing absolutely no one, and that's exactly how I wanted it to be.  This summer will be only what I make of it, and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

Now, for a bit about my accommodations:
I am living with a host family that has four adorable kids ages 5-11.  They are all very sweet, and the youngest, the only boy, has quickly grown fond of me because I'm willing to play "Just Dance 3" with him on the Wii.  I can already tell that this home stay experience will be drastically different than my experience in Madrid, where my host mom was genuinely interested in getting to know me and building a relationship.  Here, the family keeps their distance and lets us (there are two other American students in the house as well) have our space, which is nice at times, but I do think it's unfortunate that they aren't quite as emotionally invested as Cris was.  She was what made my semester abroad the wonderful experience that it was.
My room is pretty nice, with a bed and dresser and some space to hang clothes.  It's nothing too exciting, but it has everything I need.
The bathroom that I've been using for the past week has had no hot water, so I've actually become quite used to taking cold showers since I've been here.  Wooo!!!
Other than that, the food is good, though, repetitive, and by the time I get home I know I'm going to be longing for green vegetables and anything but beans and rice.  Our house does not have air conditioning, but we keep the doors and windows open to let light in, which helps bring the temperature down.  It also allows bugs to enter the house, and there are a ton of ants and moths crawling around, but I'm sure I'll get used to those.

The climate here is actually quite lovely...it's very warm in the morning (I would guess around 85+, and then cools off in the afternoon when it's about to rain.  Right now Costa Rica is starting its "wet season," so people expect it to rain every afternoon.  That hasn't quite been the case thus far, and we've had a couple issues with low water supply, but hopefully it'll rain enough to prevent that from happening too much more!

That's about all for the basics, and I'll be talking more about my work and this area throughout my posts, so for now, I'll say goodnight!

A tortilla ISN'T for burritos???

This semester, I've quite frequently heard from my family and friends, "Oh my gosh, do you love the food?!?!"  Clearly none of these people have spent extended periods of time in Spain.  I will say that the food is good, and my host mom is a wonderful and healthy cook (unlike most of the host families in our program), so I've definitely enjoyed the food and have not been starving.  My only reservation is that the cuisine here is extremely repetitive, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to the US where I can enjoy a wider variety of food!

All that being said, there are a few foods I'm going to miss when I leave Spain:

1.  Paella - VERY traditional Spanish dish, made in a special pan with rice, saffron, and pretty much anything else you feel like adding...veggies, seafood, and Spanish sausage are all common

2.  Tortilla española - NO.  This is not what you use to make burritos.  It's a delicious, quiche-like dish made with potatoes, onions, and egg.  That's it!  Unpretentious, cheap and amazingggg.

3.  Croquetas - A fried ball consisting of milk, flour, egg, onion and (most traditionally) jamón ibérico, though many people all make them with bacalao (cod fish), tuna, chicken, or a number of other things.  They're unbelievable, but also unbelievably bad if done incorrectly. (my host mom makes them from scratch :) tehehe)

4. JAMÓN Ibérico - This one gets all caps.  Why?  Because a) I can't bring it back with me...some law US Customs has. Ughhh US Customs I hate you, and b) I don't think I can buy it in the US...although I'm having my brother-who-works-at-a-butcher-shop investigate a little for me.  What does all this mean?  That I have no hopes of having jamón again until I save enough money to come back to Spain.  I know what you're thinking: "Um, you can buy ham in the US."  Nope.  The ham here is unique in that it has been cured for 1-2 years.  American ham just can't even hold a candle to it.

So, what am I going to do about this?  Well, I'm going to learn how to make it all myself! (Minus the jamón ibérico, of course)

I'll be uploading photos as I go!!  Wish me luck!!

Thanksgiving in Paris

I'll suffice to say that I did Thanksgiving the right way...and in Paris with my brother and sister-in-law!  (Along with a friend of mine and two friends of theirs...and of course the cat!)  What more could you ask for?

I even made my other sister-in-law's (/Jiffy's) corn souffle, which was a huge hit!!  Might I add that I had to make creamed corn and corn bread mix for it because of course you can't buy things like that in France.  I also made a pumpkin pie...completely from scratch, because again, why in the world would Paris carry canned pumpkin puree?  Oh Europe.  But it was my first pumpkin pie and after stressing out over all the very different recipes I was seeing online, I finally just wrote my own, and it got rave reviews!!  I think everyone had an amazing time, and we were all in massive food comas by the end of the meal.  But now, let's just see the pictures!

To start, we had two rounds of appetizers and martinis...first round: Cosmos with carrots and this delicious balsamic goat cheese dip.  Second round: clementine martinis with lox and cream cheese!

Chuck carving the bird: NOMMMM

Addictive sweet potatoes, stuffing, roasted vegetables, gravy, turkey, and mashed potatoes...

Oh right and more turkey, more stuffing, and corn souffle:

Oh wait...I forgot to mention the apple crisp AND pumpkin pie (I made them both...proud of it!!)  Chuck said it was possibly the best pumpkin pie he's ever had.  Not bad for my first time :)

A walk in the park!...

...on the way to Arc de Triomphe...

...on the way to the riverside to drink champagne!!!!

So yeah...just a casual and beautiful day in Paris!!!!

Oh, and if you weren't aware, in France and Spain (and probably lots of other European countries), instead of putting a lengthy surgeon general's warning on tobacco products, they just stick to something a little more direct...like this:

(I still haven't quite figured out why it's in English...found it on the streets of Paris!)

So yeah...this method seems to be working REALLY well in Europe...jokes.

ANYWHO, I had an amazing time spending Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law!!  I could not have asked for a more delicious meal or better company.  I love them so much and it's been so amazing to see so much of them this semester!  I sure am going to miss it.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving celebrations were as heart warming and delicious as mine was!  I know I have so much to be thankful for.

P.S. 16 days until I'm HOME!!

Buda buda buda buda rockin' everywhere

So, last weekend I went on a spontaneously planned adventure in Budapest, Hungary.  And oh my goodness.  I fell in love.

I guess I should mention first that the trip there was quite an adventure unto itself.  We booked flights on a budget airline called "Wizz Air."  Oh dear.  But it was cheap, and we're resilient college kids, so it's okay if it's not that nice, right??  Of course.  But then again, they don't exactly mention that there's so little leg room that a person of my height will feel claustrophobic.  Not a huge deal for me, but as for my 5'10" friend, "slightly uncomfortable" doesn't exactly do it justice.  So, what are three girls to do when they're squeezed into seats on a somewhat sketchy flight?  Why, they buy beer and wine from Zoltan of course!!! (Zoltan was our flight attendant's name...it made us ridiculously happy)  After three hours of chatting and watching me embroider (you'll see the final product in a few days...I promise it's not as grandmothery as it sounds), we finally landed, safe and sound, and wonderfully wine-happy in Budapest, Hungary, about to experience one of the best weekends of our lives!  The airport was definitely different...what with all the Magyar written everywhere that we could only attempt to pronounce.  But we withdrew money from what we deemed the "HUF getter," even though the currency there is forents, and tried to get over the initial shock of the crazy conversion rate: $1 = 220 forents, and 1€ = 280 forents.  Then, we found our way to the hostel after waiting about 20 minutes for a shuttle at the airport, during which time we realized that a taxi was actually cheaper...you live and learn!  Upon arriving at the hostel where we had reservations, we realized that it was "conveniently" located on top of a night club.  Ugh, wonderful.  We climbed up the stairs to the hostel, passing all the partygoers on our way, and found a plywood door on the 3rd staircase that was the entrance to the hostel.  Oh dear.  We rang the doorbell for about 15 minutes with no answer, and finally someone at the club told us what the code was to enter.  Yay!  When we entered the check in room, we found the girl that was supposed to be on duty passed out on the couch, and when we woke her up it was very clear that she was very high on something.  We had to ask her about 4 times to show us the way to our room because she was so out of it that she forgot to do so.  And then the room....well, it was sketchy enough that none of us felt comfortable lying down and sleeping.  So, great hostel right?!?!

And here's where modern technology jumps in to save the day.  Carrie, one of the girls with me, was on her iPhone trying to connect to the wifi, when she noticed a wifi signal from another hostel, which meant it must be close by.  So we immediately ran down to the street to find this mysterious other hostel, and found it almost right across the street.  We rang the bell, asked if they had room for us for 3 nights, they said yes, and we went up to check it out.  What we found was leaps and bounds better than the hostel we were in, and the guy at the desk was extremely nice and welcoming.  He also spoke Englihs! (turns out he's from Australia)  In a split second, we ran back to the first hostel, grabbed our things, told Ms. I'm-so-high-I-can't-speak that we weren't staying there, and checked in to the second hostel.  It was by far the best decision we made all weekend, because it was there that we met the people who would take us to unbelievable events throughout the weekend.

I can't even articulate what it is that made me love Budapest so much.  Maybe it was the pack of Australians working at our hostel who were the most ridiculous and entertaining people I've ever met.  Maybe it was the rager we went to in outdoor thermal baths (pool party in November, anyone??).  Or maybe it was that cruise down the Danube River at night, where you could see all the amazing building lit up like votive candles.  Maybe it was the ability to wander and explore during the day with absolutely no goal in mind other than to follow our noses.  Maybe it was the company of two amazing friends who had the same travel goals as I did: have fun and don't stress out about seeing everything.  Regardless, what I do know is that I will never forget this past weekend, and I WILL be back to Budapest (potentially in 2 weeks).  It's by far my favorite city in Europe right now.

Unfortunately, there were a couple sour notes at the end of the weekend: Ryan Air charged me 20,400 forents (aka ~$96) to print my boarding pass at the airport.  And then between Madrid airport and my apartment, I was pickpocketed.  That's the second time this semester, and this time, they got my credit cards, my license, and the forents I was going to save!  But after the amazing weekend I had, I'm relatively unbothered by the whole thing.  I cancelled my cards, they're being sent to me, I can get a new license, and I can always go to an exchange kiosk to get more forents to keep as a souvenir.

So despite those two less-than-favorable events, I had one of the best weekends of my life!!  And this weekend, I'm headed off to Barcelona with my program, followed by a trip to Paris next weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law!  I can't believe it myself.  I feel so blessed, and am so thankful for this semester.  I've certainly been going through an interesting emotional process, but I saw a quote today that really captures how I'm feeling about this semester as a whole:

"Not until we are lost do we begin to find ourselves." - Henry David Thoreau

I've definitely felt a little lost and frustrated this semester, but I think that this was God's way of giving me the chance to rediscover a part of myself that I'd lost in my first 2 years at Duke.  I've been able to uncover parts of myself that I forgot, but parts of myself that I loved and still love.  What an amazing gift.  It took me a while to realize it, but I think that's why I came here this semester.  To find myself.  God certainly works in amazing ways that we can't understand, but we just have to remember to trust him and trust his plan for us.  Everything will work out :)

And now, without further ado, picture time!!!

Wizzair...looking oh so professional in pink

the currency!  An Hungarian forent.  This one bill is worth about $45.

^ The changing of the Hungarian guards! ^

An absolutely stunning church...I just love the tile work on the roof!

The main bridge at night!

Us at the thermal baths party!

(view from the cruise Friday night!) The Parliament building...isn't it stunning?