Costa Rica's Emergency Room

With only 2 weeks left in Costa Rica, I can finally say I've been to the doctors... and not just any doctors... the emergency room! So while I was in Arenal last weekend, I jumped off a rope swing and cut my feet. This morning, I realized neosporin wasn't doing the trick and my cuts were infected. ICDS tells us to go to Clinica Biblica, which is a private hospital in San Jose. I told my mom and she quickly took me there this morning. The whole process was really quick and within an hour and half I was out of there. All the doctors spoke English and they loaded me up with a few antibiotics. Unfortunately, it was incredibly expensive. I had to pay it all myself, but I believe if I bring the form back to the USA, my insurance will reimburse me... hopefully. I am going back on Monday so the doctors can see how the infection improved... or not improved. The healthcare system in Costa Rica is very different from the States. In the States, the doctors tell you everything! More than we need to know, but I like that. I like knowing all my options and I like knowing that my doctors are competene and know exactly the problem. That is not the case in Costa Rica. The doctor simply looked at my cuts and said this should do the trick. He hardly explained anything to me. I do not like that. I am actually really nervous to see what happens. The doctor told me not to go out this weekend. So I am just chilling in my hosts mom house and giving up shoes for the weekend. Its not a bad deal because I have so much homework that I can catch up on anyway. I can't say I'm too disappoint about that. I just don't want to deal with a difficult infection, so hopefully on Monday they say I'm all clear. I missed my first class today because of the predicament, but I'm not worried about that at all. I know ICDS will be very understanding even though they have a strict "no skip" policy. As I said before, I only have 2 weeks left in Costa Rica. That is absolutely insane to me, but right now I am excited to go home. I think that is probably attributed to the fact that I'm cooped up in my homestay this weekend and I'm all nervous, but either way I am happy to be going home soon. I miss my family, my dog, and my boyfriend. I cannot wait to see them and step back into reality for a bit. I really do love Costa Rica, but theres truly no place like home.
They are my amazing host parents:

Arenal

This last weekend, I went to Arenal with 6 other students from the program. Arenal is one of the most visited tourist destinations in all of Costa Rica. It is a volcano (that unfortunately is inactive now) and is surrounded by beautiful hot springs, natural reserve, and waterfalls. We stayed at a hostel called La Fortuna Backpackers. There are plenty of hostels in the surrounding town, La Fortuna, because it is such a touristy place. Our hostel had a pool, it was awesome! Friday we got to the town and just hung out with each other. On Saturday we took a walk down to a river which had a huge swimming hole. It was the most beautiful swimming holes that I have ever seen. We spent about 2 hours swimming through it, jumping off of rocks, and swinging off of the rope swing. The last time I went off the rope swing I completely wiped out on the rocks... honestly I was lucky I didn't break any of my bones! I eventually landed in the water after getting all scraped up (and I'm still suffering from those injuries now) BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT! It was a great time and I do not regret anything. Now I am spending my nights dousing my feet in hydrogen peroxide and neosporin, but it is all good. After the waterfall we went to Baldi Hot Springs because we got a good deal from our hostel owner. Baldi Hot Springs is a sort of resort which offers people the opportunities to swim in many, many hot springs. Although the hot springs are natural, they have been developed and built upon. The pools were absolutely gorgeous and that water was HOT! It was a great day and we really spent the time winding down and pampering ourselves in the different pools and swim up bars. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because I was so preoccupied with enjoying the place instead of taking pictures of it! At night we went back to our hostel, visited a local bar, and just hung out with each other. It was one of our friend's birthdays so we had a great time celebrating it with him. I cannot stress enough how lucky I consider myself to have gotten such a great group of students. They are amazing people and I will be friends with them for the rest of my life. I am so happy here, in paradise, with them. Try to really get to know the people you are studying abroad with on a deep level. It has made my trips in Costa Rica phenomenal. On Sunday, we took a bus back to San Jose. The whole drive took about 4 hours although we had to take a bus to Quesada and then another to La Fortuna. Nevertheless, the process went smoothly.

Nicaragua with ICDS

At 3:00 in the morning on Halloween, ICDS picked each of us up and took us on a bus to Nicaragua. Our first stop was in Granada, one of the top tourist destinations in Nicaragua. Granada is a colonial town in Nicaragua ready to handle large amounts of tourists at any time, but because it was the low season, we were one of the few tourists actually there! It was amazing. Granada is really beautiful and our hotel was so luxurious (It had air conditioning and a pool!). Those are two things that never come hand in hand when traveling on a budget in Latin America. We spent the day touring Granada and visiting museums. At night we were given free reign to do what we wanted (Almost). I have to admit, I took full advantage of that... maybe a little too much. Oh and the food in Granada was so delicious. The bar scene in Granada was great and walking around the town center was so fun. There are plenty of corner stands selling cheap souvenirs so it was a good time for all of us. The next day we left our hotel and went to Malaysa, which is a volcano outside of Granada. It had awesome views and we were all happy to be there. After our day trip we took a bus and a ferry to another part of Nicaragua, Isla Ometepe. Ometepe is an island in the middle of Central America's biggest freshwater lake. It was so cool! The lake was so huge that it created waves along the shore. We stayed at an eco-lodge along the shore and we had a great time getting to know the place that night (great food once again). The amount of bugs that swarmed the lights after dark was unreal. It may have been the scariest and most hilarious scene I have ever witnessed. Everyone was freaking out, but we managed to hangout in our rooms and get to know each other, and our teacher a bit more. On the third day, we volunteered at a local primary school and taught English to little kids who knew none at all. It was a very difficult task, but we had a lot of fun. It was great to really get to know the culture and see how these children lived their lives, day to day. The school was small and it didn't seem stocked with supplies. The teacher told us the school is basically funded by the surrounding community and its businesses. The people of Ometepe want to fund the school in order to provide for their children's future and therefore secure their culture. It was great to see the community (and even the hotels in the area) taking responsibility for the education of the citizens. After we volunteered, we went to a natural mineral pool. Of course that was beautiful. Later that night, we hung out at the eco-lodge and got to know our teachers and tour guides. The next day we took the bus home. It took about 12 hours because of traffic and our stops for food and such. Honestly, it wasn't bad though because we all had each other to talk to between our naps. I really do love the other students in my program. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to get to know. What was most difficult to deal with in Nicaragua was the poverty. In Granada, there were constantly people coming up to us begging for food or money and even in Ometepe it was clear that the families were on the verge of poverty. It was obvious because of the lack of infrastructure as well. It is upsetting to watch and realize there is little you can do at this point in time. Its important to always be prepared to see unexpected and not always desired things when visiting other countries. All in all, Nicaragua was my favorite trip so far. It was a perfect weekend and I can't thank ICDS enough for organizing it for all of us. The crazy memories I've made this weekend will rest with me for a lifetime.
I will forever miss Nicaragua