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

Finally feeling Homesick

Well its happened, I finally feel homesick. I miss my family, boyfriend, and friends. For about a week I was pretty bothered by this, but now I am just feeling the remnants. It is perfectly natural. I have been gone for two months and have had little contact with most people. I have gotten over the feeling simply by talking to friends and family on Facebook. I have plenty of time to do that during the week, so it hasn't been anything of concern. I have a little less than 5 weeks in Costa Rica. Although I am a bit homesick now, I know I still have so much to do here. I, in no way, want to leave Costa Rica though. It probably didn't help that I stayed in San Jose this weekend. We had a service learning activity on Saturday. My group, along with about 30 other college students, volunteered at a small school in Tirasses, which is a local town. It is very poor and it was evident by the houses and pollution surrounding the area. In about 5 hours, we made a garden right outside the school and I have to admit, it looked really nice! I am very happy we were able to get that done and help out the school. Some school kids were there and they were very nice, some of us had the opportunity to practice our Spanish (which is always needed). It felt really great to volunteer and actually make a difference. Take advantage of talking to Costa Rica children. They can tell you a lot about the culture and they easily latch onto people. It is easy to make a connection with children. At night, we went to a bar in San Pedro called Mundo Loco. It is very close to ULatina and is always a very good time. The bar played some Latin music on Saturday, so the atmosphere was very fun and lively. We spent some time dancing. Besides that, this weekend was very calm and allowed me to plan for my next couple of weekends here. This weekend, I am going to Nicaragua with ICDS, I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about that. I have a feeling it will be one of the best weekends here, if not the best. ICDS is great at planning trips.

Montezuma

This past weekend, I went to Montezuma with 3 other students from the program. Many students went their separate ways this weekend in smaller groups. Traveling constantly with a large group can be draining so we decided to make it small and intimate. Montezuma is a beach town on the pacific coast off Costa Rica on the Nicoya Peninsula. We took a bus, a ferry, and then another bus to get there. We stayed at La Aurora Hostel, which was very nice. Two of my girl friends and I got a private room to ourselves with three beds, a mini fridge, and a private bathroom. That's about as good as its going to get when visiting hostels. The owner was really nice and was willing to help us out a lot. The hostel was about a minute walk from the beach, which was great. Surprisingly, the beach was extremely dirty. There was so much trash along the border of the sand from the forests, but the water was clear. This was very upsetting because we later found out that all the trash wash floating down the rivers from the interior of the continent. Although Costa Rica is the poster child for sustainable development, it still has a long way to go with improving its waste management. In the ocean, the waves were sooooo strong! We could hardly stay in without being knocked over, but when we walked down about 30 minutes along the coast we found a calmer part of the water and swam. When we were walking we spotted about 10 monkeys. They were adorable, but fierce. We got really close to them as well! Don't worry we acted sustainably and didn't feed or touch them, of course! On Saturday, I went snorkeling on Tortuga Island. The island was really cool, but there was some pollution there as well. I still saw so many fish and it was a great time! Our guide took us on a long boat tour, let us snorkel for about 2 hours, and prepared us lunch. We chilled along the beach of the island for a few hours before returning to Montezuma. It was a beautiful weekend, but the pollution surprised us all. The nightlife in Montezuma is a little slow. We were really tired so we ended up just talking with each other at night and relaxing. Also, a guy we met in Monte Verde joined us at our hostel! It was great.

Puerto Viejo

Its been a while since I've posted on here! I've been really soaking in Costa Rica. I think its important to refrain from spending your time behind a camera or a blog. Get out there and experience things in person! So two weekends ago I went to Puerto Viejo. It was extremely fun! Although Puerto Viejo is known for being one of the most dangerous parts of the country, if you stay in a group and behave in a smart manner, no harm should come to you. That is what I did with the other students and no problems arose. I went in a big group (about 10 students). During the days, we went to local beaches. The water was so clear, the sand was white, and the environment was really pretty (along the beach that is). Once we strayed from the beach, the trash along the streets was visible. Puerto Viejo is poverty stricken in some areas and the people seem to be very laid back. This is when the term Pura Vida can develop into a negative phrase. At night, we walked around Puerto Viejo and bar hopped. The dancing was fun and the people were hilarious. It was very crowded and loud in the town so we made sure to take safety precautions. Puerto Viejo is one of my favorite spots in Costa Rica. I really enjoyed the culture, from what I saw. We stayed at a hostel called Rocking J's. If definitely catered to my age group and the decorations of the hostel were very.... how can I put this..... well hipster. Don't get me wrong, all the art was really cool and it was fun just to walk around and see the designs, but to me, it wasn't genuine. When we asked the employees for help, they acted rudely and sometimes ignored us. It was extremely annoying and I started to dislike the place for that reason. I could really tell it was all a scheme to attract people from our age group and charge them ridiculous amounts of money. Although my host mom told me that I could drink the water everywhere in Costa Rica, this hostel said we couldn't so they charged us for water. (Don't worry I rebelled and boiled my own tap water on the stove). I have about 80 bug bites on my legs from the nights in Puerto Viejo. So remember to apply your bug spray and maybe wear long pants! Soak up the sun at the beach because that is easily the best part. I took the bus down to the last set of beaches and the corals were great to see and swim across.

Studying abroad in Costa Rica

This is my 5th week in Costa Rica and I can´t believe it. Tomorrow, I and a few others are traveling to Puerto Viejo for the weekend. Although its only been a few days since Monte Verde, I feel like I just got back. The week days literally fly by. I guess its because everyday I have class from 8-3:30 except on Fridays when I have class for 2 hours until 12. Also, the work load is not small or easy. I came to Costa Rica thinking the classes would be super easy and I would spend most of my time around the city of San Jose. Although I do find myself in San Jose sometimes, most of my week days consist of getting my homework done so I don´t have to worry about it on the weekend. It is definitely import to balance play with academic planning, but it is harder to do that in Costa Rica because on the weekends I do absolutely no homework. So my weekday life centers just around my classes. It definitely helps that the subject matter (environmental sustainability) is a subject I hope to become involved with for the rest of my life. I really do find my classes very interesting and they are nothing like the classes I have taken at Drexel. The environmental sustainability track is very much about policy and institutional change compared to the environmental science courses at Drexel which are mostly about biodiversity and scientific research. I am SO happy that I came to Costa Rica to take these classes, because Drexel cannot offer me anything similar to these classes. I know I will have an advantage against other students majoring in environmental science because of Costa Rica.
Also, I am so happy that I came to Costa Rica and stayed with a host family. Its a completely different type of experience because you are COMPLETELY immersed in the culture and a student living in a dorm or apartment with other study abroad students will never feel that type of connection. I have developed such a strong love for Costa Rica and Latin America and it is because I was thrown into the culture and have developed an understanding of it. I cannot stress enough that a study abroad experience is not just about going out and seeing different things and partying, it is about understanding new cultures, becoming a part of it, and giving back to the country that is giving to you. Also, I came to Costa Rica not really caring if I learned Spanish while I was here or not. Now, I really hope I come back at least conversational. Its really fulfilling to be able to have conversations with my host mom in Spanish and I am proud when I can order in a restaurant with no problems. I can´t explain it, but the success feels great! Now, I feel like when I visit other countries in the future, I will try to immerse myself not just in the environment and sights, but in the culture as well.
The Take Home Message: Traveling abroad is about becoming a part of other cultures and experiencing different ways of life, not partying and looking at pretty things.
Here is a typical breakfast in Costa Rica: