Total Slacker

Okay guys completely sorry it has been a REALLY long time since I last blogged. My bad. It has been much too long, especially since so much has happened in that time. Lets see last week I was sick most of the week, which I do feel better by the way. Luckily, I didnt hack up my entire lung, just small parts of it. Tiny thoughts of tuburculosis entered my mind at times, but only when I sounded like a smoker with emphysema. But luckily since I havent lost any weight since I've been here, I think tuburculosis can be ruled out (and the fact that I'm better now). I basically didnt work any last week (which I didnt really mind :) so anyway, this past weekend I went to Nicaragua. I would love to write about it but honestly this blog would be longer than the state of Florida so I'm going to try and sum it up the main points

• I went to a foreign country with only one other gringa and we really had no idea where to go (this was not the original plan. Our tico friend got denied access into Nicaragua at the border)
• Nicaragua is HOT. I was basically a puddle the whole time
• It takes 8 HOURS by bus to get there
• Things in Nicaragua are much cheaper
• Grenada is NOT a beach town as I was told and the reason I wanted to go. It is on Lake Nicaragua and the sand part that might be considered a beach is covered in Trash.
• Nicaragua in relation to Costa Rica is very similar to Mexico's relationship to the US
• It rained the ONE day we were there. Seriously, the rain freakin followed me because it doesnt normally rain that much in Nicaragua
• Grenada is sort of like charleston
• We went to a volcano. There was a mixture of rain and sulfuric gases that prevented any possible viewing of the volcano. Awesome
• We had to wear gas masks because of how intense the gas was from the volcano. Otherwise, you got light headed. Also the gas made your eyes sting.
• We also got completely soaked trying to climb to the top just so we could see the gas from a higher elevation.
• 8 hours is entirely too long to go for a weekend.
• Immigration SUCKS

Anyway, If you would like to know the whole story, I'll tell you. Needless to say, it was an adventure and quite interesting.

This morning, I was craving an Iced coffee like none other. I have never craved iced coffee in mmy life, but i guess there is a first time for everything. I went to McDonalds and got a Cappuccino Frappe. Sweet Lord. It was totally worth the three fifty I paid for it and the mountain of whipped cream they put on it (Dairy is basically my arch nemesis and I would NEVER pay 3.50 for a drink in America). It was so delicious. I seriously looked like a savage eating it as I was walking to my bus this morning. But to be completely honest I just didnt even care. I was using a combination of spoon and straw action to eat it. I'm pretty sure there was whipped cream all over my face, but like I said, i didnt care. Today, was the first day that my roommate Merri was coming to the clinic. The next two days we get to go together :) Its crazy that I only have two days left. Honestly, its been cool. but I'm kind of ready for a change. Today, I did absolutely nothing. I got to the clinic and I was supposed to meet Ligia at some school. Okay side note, in costa rica, they arent too specific. They will just tell you "meet me at the school in the morning" and forget to tell you things like I dont know the name of the school, or even maybe where its at. So this morning I spent an hour wandering around trying to find "the school" After wandering around for an hour, i got to the school pretty much for Ligia to tell me that they didnt really need me. So I went back to the clinic and basically just sat outside to wait for Merri to come so I could ride back home with her to show her which bus to take home. Anyway, we went home together and then we both needed to go to the DUM DUM DUM BANK!!! The horror. Let me just tell you guys that I went to the bank last thursday and was in and out in literally five minutes. Today, however was like that one day and it took forever. It was even worse than that other time. We were FIFTY behind when we walked in this time instead of just TWENTY. luckily this woman beside Merri gave us her number which was like thirty ahead of ours. What a saint. I just dont understand what is up with their banks here. We were there for an hour. At one in the afternoon. What were all these people doing here at ONE in the afternoon. Does nobody work around here. obviously you are if you have money to put in the bank...whatever. Anyway, that was about all. Sorry it has been so long. I will try to be more consistent. I start classes on monday and I get to meet all my new classmates on Sunday. Yippee :) Who knew I would EVER be excited for school to start. Weird. Well love and MISS you all. I am a little homesick but its all good. I miss english, a lot. haha. but I really do LOVE you all. Pura Vida

Okay, the raindroplets here are like water balloons. seriously. its like the omnious dark clouds are like fighter pilots in World War II releasing tiny bombs on top of you. Yeah, I just ran back here down the street because I was wearing WHITE shorts. Yeah, could I have looked any more like a gringa? dont think so. white girl + white shorts, a tank top + running with an umbrella=gringa. I did not however have a large camera hanging around my neck, a t-shirt, or tennis shoes on, so I didnt look like a tourist. just a gringa. Yup, the heavens just opened up just now. Err, there are freakin ants crawling all over me and my computer right now. Ugh, ants are the spawn of satan. Curse you you tiny little demons. Anyway, let me just tell you guys about work today. Well price and I got there and Ligia wasnt in her office, so we just went to breakfast and watched the first half of the USA and Algeria game. Okay, I was talking to one lady from work and we were discussing how USA is so systematic and play like robots. Its really the truth. Whereas when Brazil plays, they look like they are dancing. They are really fun to watch. so anyway, after the first half ligia still wasnt in her office and David informed us that she wasnt coming today, so Price and I looked at each other really quick and basically had a five minute conversation of "well if you wanna go home, I'll go home." David helped us make the decision to go or stay with a coin toss (I love how they "officially" decided things here) well lady luck was in our favor for once so we left the clinic at 9 haha. We went to pequeno mundo and then went and had this amazing lunch and watched the first half of the germany/ghana game. Okay guys, I'm not sure if this is TMI or not, but whatever. OK, my room smells AWFUL. I mean after you are in it for a while you get used to it, but right as soon as you walk in you initially think "man, I dont wanna be here anymore" but you just have to press through. It just smells really moldy, but its because it FREAKIN RAINS ALL THE TIME. Everything I own is basically wet, and no I cant hang anything outside. you know why, because it FREAKIN RAINS ALL THE TIME. ugh. So everything just kind of sits in my room and now the moldy mildew smell is starting to become suffocating. And I bought this Dr. Scholls foot spray that is supposed to prevent this very thing. IT ONLY MADE IT WORSE!!! Curse you Dr. Scholls. You are supposed to absorb the moisture, not mix with it so the smell you create makes me nauseated (which I really am...I took some medicine last night for nausea and I looked at the ingredients and basically I was just eating liquid sugar) Anyway, shoutout to my bro for finally getting a skype. Woot Woo. yeah, skype is the stuff :) Well, i have my FINAL meeting about my internship. wow only 5 more days of work. HECK YES. and shoot if next week is anything like this week it may only be like 2.5 more days. who knows. I think I may be going to see Toy Story 3 tonight. Yup its in spanish. Most movies here are in English with Spanish subtitles. Most of them except animated ones. anyway, im sure it will still be fun. approximately like 5 hours later...okay guys, I just got back from seeing toy story 3 in 3D at the San Pedro Mall and it was really cute. You got a friend in me is way cuter in spanish. Okay the reason I wanted to write about it was that when we were leaving just now, there were a bunch of taxis lined up outside the mall, like they always are. Well the first dude we walk up to is like "2500 colones" we were like "what?!" because it was only 1500 to get there. So we walk to the next guy and he says "3000 colones" like he is giving us a good deal. PSSSHHHH. Then I was like "um, this dude over here just said 2500" and he was like "its only 500 more" um 'scuse me, you might can rip off every other American Gringa but daggum I'm Lynn Wilson's daughter and us wilson/harpers dont take that crap. Merri also pointed out that the taxis werent even official. So we try to find an official taxi (ones that are red with a yellow triangle on the side) and we saw one, and I walked up to the guy and asked him to take us to veritas and the first thing this mo fo says is "Dont slam my door!" I was like "okay, weirdo. Can you take us there or not" I didnt really say that but I wanted to. I mean he acted like he was having to go out of his way to take us to our house. Excuse me sir, this is your job...we are going to pay you money, we arent a charity case. And why the heck are you parked in front of the mall standing beside your car like you are waiting to take people if it is SUCH an inconvenience?! I mean honestly, What the crap was up with these dudes. They were all getting on my freakin nerves. So anyway, we drop caitlin off and when she closes her door the cab driver is like "I told you not to slam my door!" Merri and I just looked at each other. What the heck was this dudes problem. There if physically no way to shut a door without it somewhat slamming, otherwise, its not closed you big reeeee tard! Err. So then he takes us to our place and I try with everything in me not to remotely slam my door. UGH...weird. That whole experience was just weird and quite frankly I dont know if I even want to go back to that mall now. You bunch of Jerks. Well that was my little rant. Sorry. I just had to get it off of my chest since it JUST happened. Anyway its really late now and I have to get up early :/ I love and miss you all! PURA VIDA

Hi guys Sorry I didnt post yesterday, but the progressing sickness in my throat and chest has put a damper on my blog writing. I have now moved from man to mute. And swallowing has become somewhat of a difficult task. It takes a lot of effort. There isnt much to tell about work today because this morning I went all the way to work (like an hour and a half) just to get there and have my boss, ligia [thats pronounced -lee he a- in case you were wondering] tell me that I needed to go home. So I was there for a rousing ten minutes and turned right around to make the commute back. On the way back, I started like burning up on the bus. I was like a woman in menopause having a hot flash. Seriously. I like started breaking out in a sweat. And I got super sleepy all of a sudden. And of course the one day that I felt like the I was about to experience internal combustion first hand, the bus took forever to get home. There was construction and so much traffic. I mean, really? Luckily, I made it home finally at like 10:00 and pretty much went straight to bed until 3:00. Ahh, its amazing how sleep can make you feel better. Don't worry mom, as much as I wish you were here to take care of me, my mama tica is doing a pretty good job. She made me some soup and some tea. But she doesn't compare to you :) You are the best. Okay yesterday I meant to blog since it was both my sister's birthday and Father's day. I wanted to give a shoutout to two of the most important people in my life. Dad, you are such an amazing man of God, father, role model, and husband. I am so thankful for all that you have done and all your love and support in my life. I have loved being able to skype with you, but it's definitely no substitute for seeing you in person. I'm sorry I wasnt able to be there with you yesterday but I hope that you always know how much I love you and how thankful that I am to have you as my father. you are the best. SISTER. We just talked but i want to let you know that I meant everything i said. I love that we get closer as we get older and farther apart. You are so amazing and I am so thankful for the love and joy that you bring in my life. I cant wait until we are reunited again but until that point, know that I HEART YOU SO MUCH. adl;ajdflasflknefrnevasndfkjasdf. (yeah thats our secret language that my sister and I share. Jealous? yeah you should be haha).

Well yesterday I went to Cartago all by myself to see my friend Kelsey. Kelsey and I were two of the Six spanish majors at Anderson. [yeah there were only six of us. people at Anderson thought it was weird to study spanish and would look at you like you had a strange disease when you would tell them were spanish major. Can anyone see any reason why I might have transferred?] I rode the bus by myself all the way there even though I had never been there. Luckily, I made it safely. Kelsey is staying with this family from SC who are missionaries here. I crashed their family dinner and we ate at this pizza place called Oteros [i think haha]. The pizza was good despite the fact that I almost NEVER eat pizza. And this morning, i remembered why haha. But its all good. After dinner, we drove around trying to look for some ice cream. Luckily the family had their own car, which is admirable since people who drive here seem to be on suicide missions. Lets just say we drove around the same block two or three times trying to find a Pops [curse you, disappearing Pops] and almost got pulled over by a policeman in the process. Everyone just tried to not make eye contact with the policeman in hopes that he would just drive on by. for once, it actually worked. We finally made it to this other ice cream place [okay, i am officially diagnosing myself as an ice cream addict. I guess I will have to attend ICA when I get home. thats Ice Creamers Anonymous for those of you that weren't familiar] After Ice cream, I decided to go back home so that i would get home before dark and I'm sure you guessed it...IT WAS RAINING. I guess the kids here dont sing "rain rain, go away come again another day" enough. I found out that there is an amusement park somewhere near my house so maybe i will get to do that soon. Once again, sorry if today's post is pretty bland, but yeah I slept half the day and the other half, Ive done absolutely nothing. Anyway, I love you all. PURA VIDA!

Okay, so I think I may have laryngitis. I just looked up the symptoms and yup I match all of them. No worries though...I dont feel bad at all. I just cant talk. Well this will give me a reason not to have to make a fool out of myself when I try to speak spanish [score] Last night I went to this party with a bunch of my coworkers. super fun. It was fun to see everyone outside of work not dressed in scrubs and gavachas [thats what my awesome jacket is called]. Price and I were the only gringos there. We actually got invited by the cool kids :) sweet. we are totally in. Its kind of strange that all the people at work are like friends. Like they enjoy hanging out with each other..outside of work. It makes work funner since everyone pretty much gets along. There was some dancing, but not as much as like castros or anything. It sucks I'm finally getting to know everyone and i'm leaving in two weeks but whatever. I cant believe I've almost been here a month. Thats crazy. time really has flown by. I know the rest of the time is gonna fly by so I'm just trying to make the most of it and take advantage of every opportunity. Ive met some really amazing people and made some really awesome memories. Today Caitlin and I were supposed to go to jaco, the closest beach to san Jose, but guess what people. When we woke up this morning it was RAINING. big surprise there. We decided to just forgo the beach trip this weekend. We went and ate lunch at the center near my house. I got some empanadas and a glass of water which were delicious. There were also some random clowns at the center and they were selling cotton candy [ which is called algodon de azucar or sugar cotton hehe] and churros! have I mentioned yet that I LOVE CHURROS. okay at Anderson when I went there [which was like a million years ago] we used to have churro day in the caf and I used to get entirely too overexcited about it. I got a churro from one of the clowns and let me tell you. I feel like this churro was filled with the nectar of God himself because it was so unbelievably good. Churros are like a Hot krispy kreme donut, mixed with a funnel cake, coated in sugar filled with liquid melted caramel. Yeah. Is your mouth watering yet. Because mine is just remember what it tasted like. I may or may not have just drooled on myself. Anyway, despite how good the food was that I ate today, either the empanadas, water, or churro caused world war three in my stomach. I'm not going any further with that conversation, but yeah. But at this moment its all good. Well I really hope that I can go to the beach soon. I'm pretty sure that i'm paler than I was when I left. For real you guys, I never see the sun here. I've almost forgotten what sunshine is like. Vampires would fit in quite nicely here. Hey Edward, where you at? Next month when i start my classes I get to go to a couple of beaches so its cool. Once again its raining now. it stopped for a little bit but everyday at 2 it normally starts up again. Being here I think Ive decided that umbrellas are the best. thing. invented. EVER. Im glad that the thailand team made it back safely. Hope you are all are getting adjusted to the time change and you arent waking up at like 2 in the morning like my bro did last year. Well I think thats all for now. Love you all and PURA VIDA!

If anyone would like to know, I sound like a man right now (even more than I normally do). Tuesday night I had a tiny tickle in my throat but I thought it was because I had been talking a lot that night. Well wednesday morning I woke up and went to say buenos dias to my mama tica and well nothing came out! it was really strange. i didnt even know that my throat was sore at that point. my mama tica made me cafe (coffee) and it felt a little better. Still a little scratchy. The same thing happened yesterday morning and by last night it moved to full MAN mode. This morning, I've now become Heath. Anyway, as I was writing this just now I almost just cried because I'm watching the American team play Slovenia in the World Cup and they were playing the National Anthem of USA. Out of nowhere, I really almost just cried. Okay, I didnt realize I loved America that much. Man I have really loved watching the world cup. Im kind of sad that no one gives a crap about soccer (yeah we are the only country in the world that calls it that) futbol I guess i should say. The world cup is bigger than the olympics here. Its always on all the tvs. I normally just cheer for the underdog but I think I've decided that I like Argentina. And no I'm not bandwagoning, because although they are good, no one here is really going for them. A lot of people are going for Germany. There is this weird relationship between Costa Rica and Germany. There is a lot of German influence here. its kind of strange. I wonder if they have oktobeerfest here. Might have to introduce them to the most exciting event of the year [insert sarcasm] also known as Walhalla's High School reunion for every single person that has ever graduated. End soapbox now. Yesterday, I helped with the pregnancy class again. Price helped too and we mainly just ended up talking the entire time so essentially I didnt do anything the entire day at work. I really like working now. I almost thought about working today but i just decided to take a chill day because Caitlin and I may be going to Jaco this weekend. Last night I went to dance class with the other 5 people that decided to show up. seriously there were only like 6 of us. But let me tell you its quite comical, trying to get a bunch of gringos dancing salsa. Its also really fun when all the tico students sit around and laugh at you, but who can blame them really. There was this guy there who claims he is from Costa Rica, but hes a student at Veritas, his name is Giovanni and he has like this random french/ German accent. And sometimes he doesnt respond to spanish. So I'm not sure that everything he is saying is entirely true. Also, he thinks that he is like the best dancer that ever lived on the planet, but this dude should be called "I spin girls so much that I make them so dizzy that they want to throw up" Seriously this guy would do like 20 spins in a row. I was like "dude, I gotta stop. I'm super dizzy" then he would look at me like I was this horrible dancer and tell me I was doing it wrong. Okay, not that I'm like this amazing dancer, but Im pretty sure spinning someone until they are about to lose conciousness ISNT right. Whatever Giovanni, you arent even Tico. I dont really care what you think. And I know he wasnt tico, because one of our tico friends wasnt allowed to come to the class because it was only for gringos. pssshhh. Anyway, after class we went to Castros. It was super fun as always. The first person i danced with was actually this guy from Arkansas, but he was by far the best non-tico that I have danced with yet. He was really good. The good thing about being a girl, is that you really dont have to be a good dancer. As long as the guy is really good, they can make it look like you know what you are doing. And most people [excluding the spin master] that I've danced with have been very good dancers. Gosh, dancing is like this surreal experience for me. Not kidding. UGH SLOVENIA JUST SCORED. see this is what happens when you call futbol soccer! just kidding. Oh btw for those who dont watch the world cup, the fans are like super crazy and get all dressed up and paint themselves. Some of the American Fans were completely painted and covered in an American flag with large pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Also some other guys were dressed up like Elvis. is elvis really an Iconic symbol that represents America. Wow thats kind of sad to me. I like Elvis, Im just sad that that is the only thing we can dress up like other than the president twins. Like I stated last week, I love fridays. Ill probably just chill around the house. Maybe go for a run or something. but I love you ALL sooooo much! Miss you all but I really do love it here. All of you should come visit :) PURA VIDA

Yep, I'm defintely not qualified to do this

Today I worked in Urgencias again. When I got there it was SUPER slow. There was seriously only like 2 people in the entire place. I got pretty excited because this meant that I could just do whatever the heck I wanted while not really having to do anything. I sat around for a while and just read the newspaper. There was a doctor there who I hadn't met yet and after about an hour of sitting directly across from him, I decided to introduce myself and tell him what I was doing. He was wearing a gold chain and traditionally [im gonna be honest with you all] I always sort of think guys with gold chains are kind of creepy. (especially if they are wearing a wife beater and/or leather jacket with it). Turns out that he was by far the coolest gold chain wearer I had met. I was only planning to stay in Urgencias for like an hour and then leave for the day because my boss wasnt even at work today, but gold chain doctor decided to make me his apprentice. I learned and proceeded to do an EKG. He let me observe him the first time and then the VERY next time he just pointed at the machine and let me do it. (Insert todays title) Like I said, Costa Ricans are SUPER laid back so I mean i guess as long as the woman who I was doing it on didnt know that I had just learned how to do an EKG about 2 seconds prior I dont guess it mattered. I also learned how to put an IV in and take one out (luckily I didnt do either of those, someone could really get hurt) but I have a feeling I may have to the next time i go there. That same doctor would always just motion for me to follow him everywhere, even though I had no idea what I was getting myself into. One time I walked into this tiny room and this woman was just lying on the table with part of her booty showing (she was getting a shot in her butt) Little did I know that as soon as I walked in the Doctor was going to hand me the shot to give to her (yup once again insert the title of todays blog) but all went fine and dandy I guess. Another woman had ripped her toenail off and was just waiting in one of the rooms for one of the doctors to help her. All the doctors kept ignoring her because a toenail I guess is not top priority, so I went and just talked to her for a while to entertain her. She told me how she had had breast cancer and that she didnt really like clinics or hospitals very much. Its amazing how people here will just open up to you. They love getting to know you and sharing thier lives with you. I really do love the people here. Eventually, one of the doctors helped her out :) I left around 12 because something apparently happened with this older lady and all the doctors and nurses rushed into this one room and closed the door. I really hope she didnt die. I'm not sure if she did or not :( anyway, I ate lunch and tried to tell some of the single tica ladies about all my single friends at home. they were all pretty excited :) So world cup update for those of you who dont know: Spain lost to Switzerland today. BIG UPSET. I mean it is Spain we are talking about. However, I always love when the Underdog wins. Ive been cheering on the underdogs so far and its worked out pretty well. On my way home, the bus was pretty full so i had to stand up for a little bit. After a few stops it had emptied out a little bit, and this older man offered me a seat, which was really sweet. HOWEVER, im pretty sure he strategically planned for me to sit there because his CROTCH was in my face the entire time. Dont even get me started how close it got to my face whenever we made a right turn. And somehow even when we made a left turn, he got closer to me. Perv. Luckily I made it out alive without any extraordianary traumatic experiences. When I get off at the bus stop there are always like a million people walking around. Its hard to manuver around sometimes. Well, as I was trying to make my way out of the jungle, I felt someone hit my butt. I was like "oh sookkky" when I turned around it was a man with a huge box of AVOCADOS bumping me to get out of the way. Really? I mean there were like 50 people directly in front of me. What was I supposed to do? and then probably two seconds after he bumped me, he set down his box and started selling them. sheesh. Anyway, i walked all the way back to my house instead of taking the bus and made it home before the heavens opened up as usual around 2:30 and it started pouring down rain. Overall, it was a pretty good day. I really enjoyed work today. LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!! PURA VIDA!

A275

Wow, well guess who just returned home from a ROUSING FORTY FIVE minutes at the bank? THIS KID. Not even kidding- I really wish I was. That little trip to exchange my dollars to colones turned out to be WAY more exhausting than expected. [and my mama tica just informed me that the 15th and 30th of every month are the WORST possible days to go. That was very useful information I could have used about I dont know FIFTY minutes ago] Anyway, I didnt think I was going to have anything to write about today but oh how the times have changed. Okay, first of all despite the fact that costa rica is a pretty laid back country with a "do whatever you want" kind of attitude most of the time, their banking system is actually pretty organized. When you walk in, you get inspected by a policeman I guess to make sure you aren't packing heat and then you make your way to a kiosk where you inform it what your purpose is for being there [like one transaction or two, etc] and then it spits out a ticket with your number on it. My number was A275. By the end of this experience, I had never wanted to be a three numbers and a letter so badly in my life. As soon as I got my ticket, I knew it was a big mistake when I looked around and saw that the place was SLAMMED full of people. I should have left but I was literally down to about 1000 colones (not even $2.00) and I knew that wasnt gonna get me very far. So I took my seat and looked to see what number was on the screen. It was only on A255. Dear lord, i was twenty away. At least thats what I thought anyway. i was already pretty tired from work today, so I didnt feel like being there to begin with. As I was just chillin in my chair for a while, the dude next to me was obviously exhausted too because he kept dozing off. I wanted to do that but I was afraid I would fall out of my chair or miss my number being called which would have SUCKED. So I just sat there. Everything was fine until A261. Because after A261 you would think A262 right? [at least thats what I learned in 1st grade] Oh no, you wanna know who came after A261. M276. yup thats right M. Where the heck did this mysterious M come from. and why was the person who had the number RIGHT after mine going before me. I looked at miss M276, which happened to be an elderly lady, and wondered what made her so special that she got a different letter and got to go before everyone else. Well the sign right beside the teller where she was at gave me the answer. The sign that showed a picture of a pregnant woman, an old man with a cane, and a person in a wheelchair with the words "priority service" So apparently pregnant women, elderly people and those in wheelchairs get bestowed a random letter like M or R (yeah R 307 even got to go before me) and got to go whenever they came in. I had been there for a while at that point and honest to goodness i thought "shoot Ill go get knocked up real quick if thats what it takes to get the heck out of here" [just kidding mom and dad. Not the part where I thought that, the part that I was serious about it] Sorry, I promise Im not hating on anyone that meets those three categories and I do think they should get priorty service. I was just jealous that I was a plain jane, young healthy adult without a fetus in my womb. Anyway, after I kept getting skipped a lot, to make matters worse, teller number 2 mr Jose Rojas S. just got up and started walking around where everyone could see him but he was definitely not doing a dang thing. I was like "scuse me, Jose, could you please stop wandering around and start helping one of the 5 billion customers you have here" Clearly Jose did not get my telepathic messages because he NEVER came back to his desk the entire time I was there. Darn you Jose. When it got to A272 I started getting excited, and I had never been jealous of someone named A274 in my life. I knew my time was coming. Unfortunately as always, Mr. A274 was the bigshot executive dude with some large manila envelope which indicated he was going to be taking his sweet time. [btw, there was this other dude there who was one of those business men types, but i promise you, This dude had so much gel in his hair that on top of the fact that i could see my hideous reflection in it, his hair looked like someone had strategically placed tiny sharp peices of plastic all over his head.what is it about Gel that guys think they can put as much as they possibly want in their hair? The light reflecting off his hair was so blinding that a couple times i think it even woke up Dozing Dan beside me.] FINALLY (cue the hallelujah course) the lady on the tv screen so sweetly said "A, dos cientos setenta y cinco" that was me, my time had finally come. i made my way to teller 1 [mind you this is the third time i've gone to the bank but none of the other times were like this] and placed my money and passport on the counter [you have to show your passport to get money exchanged here. Now at this point, I'm tired, hungry, and way past the point of even wanting to speak or think in spanish. Every other time I had been to the bank, the teller didnt say more that then word "pasaporte" to me to indicate that I needed to hand it over to him. But oh no, the one day I dont feel like saying anything, conversation charlie feels like learning about my life story. He kept asking me questions, and to make matters worse, at the banks here, there is a window that separates you from the teller with only a few holes cut out for you to hear them. Not only do I have to be listening intently to understand spanish, I definitely dont need some kind of barrier that makes your voice sound like the teacher from charlie brown "wah wah wah" I kept trying to talk, but it was clear by the end when he started speaking English that he realized that I had no idea what was going on. Needless to say, after I left the bank, i went to POPS (the mcdonalds of Ice cream down here) and got a guanabana nieve (its kind of like sherbert). I was not intending on going but that experience was really exhausting and I just wanted to treat myself gosh darnit. Well anyway, thats about all. I'm sorry thats all I wrote about but I promise thats the most interesting thing that happened. And I promise Im not in a bad mood at all, its just funnier to write like I am sometimes. Anyway, Love you all, PURA VIDA!

oh monday

Today, I did house calls again con David. This morning at breakfast I just had coffee (which Ticos drink like water by the way) I dont think the coffee here has quite as much caffeine as in America because normally when I drink coffee Im like a coke addict going through withdrawals. I get all jittery and I feel really weird. I drank it today because I knew I would fall asleep if I didnt. At one of the first houses we went to, I promise you there was one of the CUTEST little girls I have ever seen. I couldnt stop staring and smiling at her the entire time. I know that I was a class five creeper but I didnt care. She was so gosh darn cute. She was really fair skinned with light brown curly hair and had the cutest little lopsided pigtails in the back. She also had an additional pigtail jutting out from her forehead (I'm guessing she may have done that one by herself haha) she had the biggest brown eyes and she seriously looked like a tiny angel. Even David noticed. He was like "she looks like a gringa huh?" I'm not sure if looking like a gringa is a good thing but this child was beatiful. I'm a little worried for her though because at the grand ol age of one and a half she had a shirt that said I love sexy [something]-I cant remember). I always feel a tiny bit concerned for the future of a small child with the word sexy on their shirt. Also, she got a mug of coffee [like I said they drink it like water here], given to her by her grandmother, and straight CHUGGED the entire thing in about 5 seconds. She was literally out of breath from drinking it so fast. I'm not sure if downing a mug of coffee or wearing a shirt that says sexy on it is entirely beneficial for a child of one and a half but I guess she gets the award for the "most mature person who still wears diapers" With the rate shes going and the looks shes got, she's gonna be a heartbreaker by the time shes three. Anyway, at the next house we walked in and on the tv I thought there was a game of beach volleyball going on so I was really excited to get to watch it cuz I love some shirtless men playing beach volleyball. However, I was shocked to find out that what I was watching was NOT volleyball. It was this sport called "footvolley" I kid you not. It looked just like beach volleball (sand court, 2 dudes, and a net in the center) but in footvolley, you CANT use your hands. Its like soccer and volleyball put together on CRACK. They served with their feet, bumped and set with their chests, and spiked with their HEADS. It was unbelievably amazing. I was in awe just staring at the TV screen (once again, super professional). It was one of the most amazing sports I have ever beheld. One dude spiked the ball with his foot over the net. FREAKIN INSANE! After a musing round of footvolley, we made our way from house to house asking insanely personal questions. I think its interesting to note that we ask the people what religion they are in their demographic information. I'm not sure what this has to do with your health status but I guess it doesnt matter. And its like people here dont get embarrased or uncomfortable when you ask them personal questions ( like what kind of birthcontrol you are using and how many pregnancies you've had-as in if you have had any abortions) People are just much more open here about things and in a way, I think its a good thing. Its like they arent pretentious here and they arent trying to hide things. They just tell you like it is. It poured down rain as usual. We watched part of the italy/paraguay game at one person's house. I also love the hospitality of Costa Rica. They love SMALL talk and getting to know one another. At the houses, oftentimes they will offer us a drink or something to eat and actually its not even rude at all to ask for a drink or something else. They are very hospitable people and enjoy spending time with others (even strange gringas who enter their house to take their blood pressure). I think I'm starting to like my job :) it just took some getting used to, thats all. David tried to explain to me the school system here. Its very confusing. I'm not sure if I understood everything correctly but from what I can tell, the students can kind of just leave school whenever they want to. Like I see students walking the streets at all times of the day. If a kid is bored or doesnt wanna be there anymore, then they can just get up and leave. Thats costa Rica for you, pura vida. And its not required that people go to school here. if they dont want to go then they dont have to. Many of the people that we talk to in the house visits normally dont have more than a sixth grade education. Its definitely interesting.

I took my time coming home today because Price left early, so I just kind of wandered around downtown ( I love it there) I ate an empanada and ice cream for lunch (breakfast of champions right there let me tell you) and made my way through the pouring rain. When I got on the bus, the backs of the seats were so tall that I couldnt see out the front window. i was like "why the heck are these seats so tall?" luckily the bus dropped me right by my house so I didnt have to walk much in the rain. Now I'm home and just blabbing to you guys about my day! Love you all!!!! PURA VIDA

This is one of those days I should have brought a camera

Well I just woke up from a nap which is a pasttime that I have moved from amateur to professional in. Today I woke up and listened to a podcast from Hillsong and had church well in my room, by myself. My room has become my own private sanctuary. Yesterday, I got to listen to the worship and devotion with the group in Thailand over skype. It was awesome. My brother even did the devotion. It was like I was there with them even though I am half a world and half a day away. What I've learned through this whole experience is that WE are the church (Its not a building or a religion with strict rules and regulations or a place where people may feel rejected or abandoned) no our lives collectively form the church. And although I may not be in thailand with the group, God's will is being done there and that is enough for me. They are God's hands and feet there and I'm here, being his tiny pinky toe :) No matter where we are, we are all in this together and as long as someone is doing it, then I'm okay with that. Today I really wanted to go downtown and just check it out. When I got there, there was a group of young people doing a performance in a park there (Exactly the same THING we do when we do our mission trips) it was like I was on the flip side of watching the dramas. I was in the crowd listening to the message of Jesus, watching a group of young people dressed in black and faces painted white [mime style all the way] doing dramas sharing the message of Jesus Christ rather than being thrown all over the place in Everything. It was almost a little weird but at the same time it just reminded me of our mission trips. {and these people were doing it in their own community which was awesome} Not to mention hearing a message and watching this was exactly what I needed since I havent found a church yet. They also had hillsong "united we stand" playing! So I got to talk to the pastor during the presentation and I told him about how we have a group that does this same exact thing and how we have a lot of dramas to Hillsong's music. I also told him I was looking for a church here. Basically, he told me I might have an opportunity to show their group our dramas so they could do them here. You can not even imagine how happy that made me. Seriously, I was honestly hoping that I would have the opportunity to do that, but i figured that the chances of that happening were really small. Also, they have meetings every tuesday night and friday night right near my house. Hopefully it will all work out. If not, just seeing them today really encouraged me. {it wasnt all hunky dory though because right as soon as I was about to leave, I felt sometime drop on my arm. I looked and a bird had freakin' crapped on me. And from the looks of it, he needed to see a doctor. Yup. I guess i should have expected that since there are exactly 112498347348373 point 8 pigeons in downtown San Jose. I mean literally, Alfred Hitchcock should have chosen this place as the location for his movie, you guessed it, the birds.}After watching them for like an hour, I just walked downtown. I got an icecream from McDonalds (yes they have the best Ice cream here, and its the cheapest. But they dont play with their cones here. they are the good kind!) I went to to a bookstore where I found one of Janet Evanovich's novels woot woo for like less than $2.00. As I was walking back to the bookstore, I didnt want to leave because I was having such a good day. And the rain wasnt too bad. Luckily, I found a reason not to. I saw a group of people standing around gawking at something. {let me tell you, Downtown San Jose has so much to offer and see on Sundays. I think this may be a weekly ritual if I'm not gone.] Oh side note: as i was walking to the bookstore, there was a tv store with the World Cup playing and tons of guys standing around staring intently at the Germany/Australia world cup game. So I decided to join them. I was like the only girl with about 20 men, watching and nodding my head at the game. Im slowly trying to get the tican people to accept me as one of their own. I figure being interested in the World cup is one way to do that lol I actually do enjoy watching it though. Not that I ever did it before I came here. Never too late to start I guess. Anyway back to the gawking people, well apparently there was a group who had escaped from the circus or some kind of side show who had made their way to downtown san jose. There were clowns, prepped for face painting and balloon animals. And then there was this other band with the clowns consisting of two guitars, an accordian, a clarinet, and a handmade bass consiting of a bucket with a broom handle attached with a rope tied to make the bass. it worked though. They were kind of like a contemporary polka band. While they performed, this other chick juggled and did crazy stuff. I'm pretty sure she would be awesome at Poi (thats for you Nora, this could be your destiny :) They were all dressed in crazy colors and loose dirty clothing. They were pretty cool. This is the part where I wish I had a camera. The part Im glad I didnt have a camera was the part where a certified class 5 creeper hit on me the WHOLE time I was trying to watch the show. He wouldnt leave me alone even when I told him I had to leave, and my excuse that I had to go back home BACKFIRED because he was headed to the bus stop too. So I had to walk all the way to the bus stop and act like I was waiting for my bus until he left. I also had to pull out the big guns and tell him the classic little white lie that "I have a boyfriend" to which he responded "you have pretty eyes" REALLY...I dont think that is an appropriate response to what I just told you. Maybe he thought I said "I want you to be my boyfriend". No he knew. He also responded "you dont have a boyfriend here in Costa Rica right" to which I got offened that he would think I would cheat on my imaginary boyfriend. Let me tell you, we are in a committed long-term relationship. Obviously other guys {other than those who are class fives] can see that and that is the reason no other guy has asked me out in so long. (just kidding). Well after I ditched creepy creeperson, i headed back to the park and just read my book. after which I came home and took a nap. It was a great, lazy sunday afternoon and I look forward to more of them in the future. Sorry if today's blog was not quite as exciting or funny as you all expect (sheesh the pressure is building from you guys. I feel like I have to deliver or something lol jk but this is my life. Its not always funny or exciting. its just real. Anyway LOVE you all very much. PURA VIDA.

I heart Fridays

Sorry I didnt post yesterday. I wish I could say that I was too busy doing something fun and exciting but in reality I did ABSOLUTELY nothing. To the point that I didnt even do my blog. Yes, as stated in the title above, I love fridays. They are like a little peice of heaven dipped in chocolate delivered by Matthew McConaughey with his shirt off (Okay that dude's name is entirely too hard to spell that after several failed attempts I had to google his name...but I couldnt think of anyone else who exemplifies the word man candy as well as him. And I watched "How to lose a guy in 10 days" so he was fresh on my mind) or megan fox ( for my brands- boys that are friends but not boyfriends). And why, you may ask are they so wonderful? BECAUSE I DONT HAVE TO WORK! YIPPEDY DOOO DAH (I think that expression is not used in our society enough anymore. Sad day. Like I said, i literally did nothing. I got up, ate breakfast, went for a run (yay for exercise, that doesnt happen very often because I'm normally too exhausted from work. So if I look like free willy when I come back home from all the AMAZING food I've been eating here and all the exercise I HAVENT been doing here, please dont throw me back into the ocean.) Speaking of food, yesterday after my run I went to this little commercial area where there are a lot of shops and a mini food court near my house to eat lunch and buy an umbrella SIDE NOTE [yes my blog is essentially just a big conglomeration of side notes] my umbrella I brought with me and have been using up until this point was so jacked up that it looked like it had been mangled by a dog, swallowed, and then thrown up again. Despite this, resourceful me was still using it to the potential danger of everyone else since the metal points were exposed. One day at the bus stop I was just standing there with my umbrella and some dude literally had to swerve around me so his eyeball didnt fall victim. whoops. Just to show you how jacked up it was, I went to the bank the other day and I left it outside the bank, in hopes that someone would steal it. Was I successful? heck freakin yes. This is san jose after all. For whatever reason, I needed to buy a new one) For lunch I had an empanada full of yummy potatoes for the first time. Sweet Lord, my mouth was so happy that i literally almost choked it was so good. I also had a "taco tico" a costa rican taco. Can I please just tell you that these arent like the tacos at Los Amigos. I didnt know that when i bought it either. Their tacos were filled with pork and the taco itself was hidden under a MOUNTAIN of cabbage, yes cabbage, ketchup, mustard, AND mayo. Yeah. needless to say I had to search through the cabbage just to find some kind of life form that resembled a taco. The taco itself was pretty good, but the cabbage was a little overwhelming. I mean there was more cabbage on it then five tiny bunnies would enjoy. Yesterday, my roommate Merri (shes from San Diego and seriously one of the nicest people I have ever met. I am truly blessed) went bungee jumping (which is a really popular for most American students here) She is like my hero. She went FIRST out of all the people there. We watched the video of her jump, which was super awesome. The jump is off of a bridge 250 Ft in the air. Yeah, pretty intense. but after watching her video, i think I wanna do it now. That would seriously be out of my element, but heck PURA VIDA right. Price and I had tickets to go the national theater last night, but we didnt end up going because he wasnt feeling well. No big. I didnt really feel like getting ready and going out anyway-after all of the empanada eating I had done that day. I have to say the internet is like the best and worst thing that has happened to me since I've been here. I am SOOO happy that i get to keep in contact with everyone through skype and facebook and make plans with all of my new friends here, but at the same time I feel like I am ALWAYS on it b/c im either talking to someone on skype or FB or making plans with someone. I feel like I may need to spend more time with my tican family and less time always on my computer. Just a personal thought. Well I will probably post another one later on about today. Love you all soooo much and PURA VIDA!

Chivalry isn't dead

So on the buses here in Costa Rica, it is very common for guys to give up their seats for girls or the elderly. This morning the bus was really full and this guy stood up so I could have his seat. It just reminded me once again how wonderful the Costa Rican people are. They really are such nice, respectful people who LOVE life. I really do love this country and the people. Side Note: I just need to tell you guys that the drivers here are freaking crazy. Pedestrians do NOT have the ride away. The biggest vehicle does. Everyday I am pretty confident that someone is going to die...and everyday I hope its not me. I mean crosswalks are really just a big game "see how fast you can run across before getting hit". If you can make it across without getting honked at seconds before you could have potentially died, its 10 points. Anyway, today I got to help my "boss" ligia do a pregnancy class for pregnant women. I really enjoyed it and will hopefully be doing it ever thursday for the next three weeks. side note: the word "embarazada" in Spanish means pregnant NOT embarrassed. So if you are embarrassed and inform someone that you are "embarazada" dont think they are looking at you funny because of the situation that made you embarrassed in the first place. let me tell you one thing, there are about to be a whole lot of little ticos running around the ENTIRE world because there are SOOO many pregnant women here. Not even kidding. I mean everywhere you look, somebody has a tiny child inside of them. They dont play here. We seriously probably had like 60 or 70 pregnant women in our class. Going on with the whole "I cant ever do anything right" game i have going on, I couldnt even pass out papers right. Really? that was like my only task to do today, and I beeped it up. Also I felt kind of bad because throughout the entire THREE hour class, I WAS SOOOOOO SLEEPY. I kept nodding off the entire class and I was wearing my "official" clinic uniform (which consists of a white button up Jacket and whatever the heck I decide to wear that day) so people knew that I worked there. Super professional let me tell you. Not that I didnt enjoy learning about all the awful things that happen to you when you're pregnant, I am just in a constant state of exhaustion. Also, the other doctor whom everyone else considers McDreamy (not the same one as yesterday) taught part of the class, so while i was snoozing, I was dreaming about him- Just kidding. I had a slammin plateful of rice, plantains, and pasta all for 900 colones (yeah thats less than two bucks- thats practically less that the reduced price lunch in elementary school). I had a meeting with my ELAP coordinator, seidy, but I had to wait for her for a while in the ISA (International Studies Abroad) office near my house. While I waited i went to the computer lab and let me tell you guys, their spanish keyboards here seriously make my brain hurt. Their keyboards have extra letters numbers and symbols so it makes it difficult to type normally. the numbers at the top have TWO symbols instead of one and the directions to type the second one is ALT + 6 + 4 (what does that even mean) I mean all that for one measly symbol. Psshhh...Welp thats all for now. Now I am just lying in my bed as usual listening to the rain, as usual, I love you all very much! Pura Vida!

Peircings, rat tails, and braces

On my way home from work today I met a group of YWAM kids. There were a lot of Gringos in san jose today. It was kind of strange. They were really nice and had been in San Jose since April. They invited me to their family day at the place they are staying. Maybe they will adopt me...hopeful thinking. Seeing them today just reinforced the fact that Jesus is alive and well in Costa Rica. Although, it is heavily influenced by Catholicism, there are signs everywhere that remind me that God is here. For the past couple of days, I have heard worship music on the buses I have to take home. Yesterday, a dude just stood up and started telling his testimony. Near the clinic, there has been a yard sale that has been going on for the past two weeks (not kidding). Its the same stuff every time we pass by. I guess they arent stopping until they sell it all. Ironically, most of it is heavy jackets, pants, and sweaters soo...But I actually talked to some of the guys that work it and they have a christian drug and rehab refuge right by the clinic and they were/are/ will be for a while having the yard sale to raise money for that. Its pretty cool. Well today I woke up sad sarah/ poutin patty/ bitter betsy from last night. I was still really sad about thailand and everything else (there is more than just thailand thats making me sad...Thailand has just been the scapegoat for my sadness) and I definitely was NOT feeling like going to work today. Then my bus was completely full so I had to walk all the way to the other bus stop where I had to wait a while to catch the bus. Price totally called me out on my depressed debbie act going on so I just sucked it up and decided I'm just gonna go on with life. Today I had to work in Urgencias-emergencies. I was really nervous because Price made it seem like it was awful. I actually really enjoyed it. Their emergency room is WAY more laid back than those in the states. It was not chaotic in the least bit. I just observed a lot but I got to actually sit down and talk to a lot of the patients. I love hearing other peoples stories and it gave me a chance to talk in Spanish a lot. One woman had a huge wound on her leg from a dog attack. (I'm serious it was huge, open flesh about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide) I got to watch them stitch her up. It was both disgusting and awesome at the same time. I tried to talk to her a lot because she was really scared and upset. I think I was able to calm her down a little. I talked to another girl who was getting IV therapy. After receiving IV therapy everyday for six weeks after my staph infection, I know how terribly boring it is when you have to sit their for two hours watching a bag drip. So I tried to occupy some of her time by talking to her. I actually enjoyed working (well really sitting and doing nothing) in urgencias. And there was this SUPER hot doctor- SCORE. The janitor was also hot and one of the nurse/aides/ someone else who's title i'm not sure of was also very attractive. It was a good day. Seriously the clinic I work at is Grey's anatomy, and that being said the doctor was McDreamy, the janitor was McSteamy, and that other dude (no joke) really looks like Karev. sigh. On the way home, Price and I went to this bakery that should be called the throne room of Jehova because it was AMAZING. We split an amazing pastry- so amazing that Price literally almost punched me in the face when I almost knocked it off of the table. A lot of stuff here is not much cheaper (sometimes more expensive) than in the states, but food is not one of them. We got that puppy for 700 colones (which is not even 1.50) and we split the price so yeah. It was worth ever single colon. So to explain the title of todays blog, apparently here the rat tail has not gone out of style. In the words of Price "its like they didnt realize that Star Wars Episode II sucked" for those of you who arent star wars nerds, Obi One had a rat tail and he could actually pull it off. Personally, I'm not one with the rat tail. I'm not really feeling it. I got my fair share of rat tails in the early 90's thank you very much. Also, alot of people have braces here. Like older people. Interesting. And lastly, before I came and even during my orientation they told us that peircings, especially facial ones, were really looked down upon here and they think its really strange. I'm not sure who told them that but from the tons of lip, eyebrow, and nose rings I see every single day (even people who work in the clinic) I'm not sure that is entirely correct. Anywho, thats my rant for the day. Love you all! Pura Vida

"Hi I'm heather" "You're Helen?" "Yeah, sure, whatever"

Okay, So apparently Heather is a very difficult name to say in Spanish. One, the "th" sound doesnt really exist in Spanish like it does in English. and Two the letter H is silent altogether in spanish- so put the two together and what do you get--> When I introduce myself, most people think my name is Helen and have proceded to call me that pretty much since I've been here. Unlike Heather, most people (especially in the clinic) think Helen is the retarded girl that can't speak spanish and looks like a Dude in the awesome jacket they gave us to wear in the clinic. So there you go. Anyway, like I said every day in the clinic is a humbling experience, especially when most people think your name is something else and look at you funny when you say your real name. People here also think it is very strange that we Americans only have one last name. See Ticos take on their mom and dad's last name and also have a middle name- which brings the total to FOUR names. Lets just say their name tags are XL. Anyway, this morning I woke up a 5 as usual and ate breakfast (woot woot- the food here always gets me excited) I had some eggs, toast, fresh fruit and juice (the usual). Okay, this morning I was waiting for my bus (a new one that i started taking yesterday) that is a little closer to my house. Well the bus comes by and the driver literally shuts the door in my face (murphy's law). There wasnt even anyone on it. Basically he was saying "I dont let any gringas named Helen on my bus". Well I decided to take a different bus instead. BIG MISTAKE. It took freakin forever to take me to a place that I had never freakin been to before. AWESOME. I was just walking around aimlessly hoping I would find Price. luckily I did. Today, I pretty much just did the same thing as yesterday- took blood pressures all day. Fortunately I really liked the people I worked with today. I talked about Twilight for a while with one of the girls. She had lots of pics of Edward on her work computer. It was pretty funny. I talked to Nora, Taylor, and Whit from Bangkok tonight on Skype. To be completely honest, today was kind of a hard day...mainly because I should be in Thailand right now, but I'm not. I'm here working in a place where I feel like an idiot ever single second of every single day. Its hard for me to describe why I love thailand so much but I will give you a few reasons why.

One, I left my heart in Thailand last year and I've been living with a void in my chest since then

two, last year I wanted to stay in Thailand and never come home. Here, all I want to do is go back home

three, I was with my wonderful friends and some family. Here, its just Helen and I

Four, Last year for the first time I felt truly happy and content with life. I didnt feel self concious, anxious, nervous, inadequate, and useless like I do here all the time.

Five, I made an indescribable connection with the people there.

Well, enough of that. Anyway- tonight I went to a dance class. It was really fun. Dancing always makes things better. Dancing and FRIENDS (the show that is) have helped me make it through my experience here. Thank the Lord I brought friends. Best decision ever. Dont know how I would have made it without them. Dont get me wrong. Costa Rica is a wonderful country, I've already met some wonderful people, and made some good memories. This has just been officially the longest time I've been away from home and Im just not good with change, if you cant tell.

Anywho, I guess I will stop ranting because its really late and I have to get up at 5 and start it all over again. I hope the beaver gnawing at my heart will be gone in the morning. Anyway, love you all :) Pura Vida

Costa Rica

Welp, this is undoubtedly long overdue but my dear aunt Lisa asked me to start a blog about my experience here in Costa Rica. I was avoiding doing it because I oftentimes get too terribly detailed and it takes too much time, but since all there is in costa rica is TIME I guess there is no excuse Not too. Seeing as how I am starting my third week here in Costa Rica I am just going to start writing from this point forward because it would take me WAY to long to start from the beginning. Well as of right now I am working in a clinic in a town called Pavas. It takes about and hour and some (it depends on how long it takes the buses or how long we have to wait for the buses) to get there, so I do a lot of commuting (including walking and riding the bus) a day. Lets just say I have had my fair share of public transportation since I got here. im starting to get used to the bus system (finally) however, sometimes I still take random buses that I'm not 100% sure go to my house, but being adventurous I take them hoping for the best. One time I just decided to forego the bus all together and just walk to town (yeah I like to change it up alot) Luckily I have a work friend named Price who walks with me and rides the second bus with me. I have enjoyed having someone to walk and work with. Lets just say this job is OVERWHELMING. Mainly because I feel absolutly inadequate and unqualified to do anything in there. Not is it a new environment where I dont know anyone, but its in a language that I am not quite fluent in. Everyday is SUPER humbling when you realize that you dont know a DANG thing. But you just make a fool out of yourself and move on with life. Price and I have just come to the conclusion that we cant do anything right. But thats what being a gringo in Costa Rica is all about. PURA VIDA! (yeah thats the costa rican phrase for...well really whatever you want it to be. it is mainly a response for "how are you doing" or just a general phrase signaling that you are loving life.

Although this has been a very overwhelming and at times difficult experience, there are parts of this culture that I love. First, I love that everyone here DANCES. ALL the time. There is dancing everywhere and everyone here LOVES to dance. If you dont dance there is something wrong with you. And it honestly doesnt matter if you can dance well or how you dance, just as long as you do. Also, it is SOOOO laid back. Like at work, no matter how many patients there are, the workers go the same pace and never really get stressed out. They just go at their own pace and whenever they get to the patient they get to them. At the same time its like the patients understand this and no one ever gets angry that they have been waiting (yeah its not like this in America-trust me I worked at Urgent Care) Everyone is on TICO time (yeah thats at least like 30 minutes late) But obviously it has an effect on their health, because I have only met like ONE person the entire time I've been here that has high blood pressure (not kidding). Everyone here has AMAZING blood pressure. Even those who are overweight. They still have 120/80 or less. Its a little strange. Anyway, this is all I have for now. I realize that it was filled with many random facts but I will post more sometime in the future that hopefully will give you more of an idea of what I'm doing. Please check out my pics on Facebook, I just put some up from my weekend trip to Puerto Viejo. I figure you can read the comments to figure out what we did there. Anyway, i love and miss all of my friends at home ALOT but I just have to take it day by day and pray that God gives me the strength to make it through each day (which he has so far) anyway thats all for now. Love you all.