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.