Zip Line

We woke up early this morning and headed over the mountain and through the forest to San Luis Canopy tour.  We went through the cloud rain forest on our way and we were literally in the clouds.  It was absolutely pretty.  As we were heading there it was like the colors of the trees and flowers kept getting brighter and brighter.  They were so rich. There were these orange trees that were really tall and had orange flowers at the very tip top.  They made the hill sides look like they were on fire.  There were some purple flowers too that were gorgeous. I swear the colors are not as good anywhere else.  We arrived there and immediately started getting suited up.  We did a total of 12 lines.  One of the lines was a tarzan swing.  It was a lot of fun.  It looked a lot more scary that what it actually was.  The other lines were a lot of fun as well.  There was some hiking involved so it was nice to be in cool weather and underneath the trees.  There were rivers all below us and you could hear them as you were walking.  The very last line we did, we did it superman.  You went on the longest line on your stomach.  That was spectacular.  We didn't really get to see any wild life (bummer), but I would definately recommend it and do it again.  We had a lot of fun laughing and enjoying the time together.  The only bad thing was that mosquitos were pretty bad, OFF didn't quite do the job.  Just hope that I didn't get bitten by a malaria infested mosquito.  They say the chances of actually getting it are slim to none.
We finally got to order some pizza back to the hotel tonight.  We were all so hungry.  It was nice to be able to just relax tonight.  Our plans for tomorrow changed for the millionth time.  I really wanted to go to the market again but that won't happen.  I am going to try and pick up some cigars for Dad, but I don't know now if that is going to happen : ( .  Hopefully I can go somewhere tomorrow that has some!  But it is looking like tomorrow we are going to just hang out at the hotel and pack and lay out for the day.  That is fine with me because I know that the 2:09 am flight will be miserable.  I am getting ready to just get on the plane and get it over with, but at the same time I don't really want to leave.

Here are some pictures from today, the beach in Nicaragua, and the Pinata party yesterday!

Work is done, Time to Play

We officially are done with all clinicals for the trip!  It is a great feeling to be finished.  This opportunity let us learn so much about ourselves and about our profession.  It let us critically think about what to do whenever we do not have the typical supplies that we would always see in our hospitals at home.  We had to improvise and learn other ways to take care of our patients.
Today at the clinic was pretty slow.  We worked from about 10am until 1230pm.  Our patient, a mother of 5 children between the ages of 15 and almost 3 years old presented with stomach pain and gastric reflux.  We started asking her questions about could there be a possibility that she may be pregnant.  Bless her heart but the simple knowledge of don't miss one day on your birth control was never reinforced to her and she didn't take her pill when she had a headache about one month ago.  So we did a pregnancy test one her, and here comes baby number 6.  You could immediately tell she was not thrilled about being pregnant.  She was worried that she would not have food to give to her family because they were already struggling to get by with only 5.  Luckily, we went to walmart yesterday and everyone each picked up a bag of beans and rice to give to families today.  I snuck on the bus and secretly handed her a bag of each.  I know it is not much, but it will certainly help.
After the clinic, we had the pinata party.  It was not as much fun as the Nicaragua Pinata Party, definately a different vibe, but we still had a lot of fun with the kids.  We handed out the remainder of our supplies (crayons, coloring books, shampoos, conditions, etc.) to the kids and they seemed to have a great time at it too.
Sam and I decided that we wanted to give our stethoscope to the Doctors in Costa Rica.  They were so happy to recieve them as gifts.  At first they did not realize what we were doing but were very gracious.  They are very special woman and I have learned alot from them.  After we were all finished at clinic we went to the mall and grabbed a snack.  They have this place called Crispy Churros and they are the best churros I have ever had.  So a couple of us went there to grab a snack. 

Tonight we are going to go to dinner here in a bit and just hang out for the night.  We will probably play card games and dice games too!  We did that last night and it was a lot of fun.  Tomorrow, we leave about 8 am for Ziplinning!  Only two more night here!  Can't believe that it is almost done! 

Set a Record!

Today we saw 40 patients. It was a record for Pavel’s ISL teams.  It could possibly be a record for ISL with the size of our group.  We could of easily of seen more people because we saw 30 people between about 10am and 1230.  There were not near the amount of people that showed up in the afternoon.  We were cranking people through this morning.  It was pretty hectic but our goal was to see as many patients as we possibly could.  We did see some interesting things today.  We saw lice jumping out of little girl’s hair and eggs so matted in their hair.  It was so sad. But at the same time, we were all a little repulsed when we started thinking about it.  The protective anti-lice spray was being sprayed around.  I think it has gotten to a point where it is going to be a miracle if I don’t get it.  Disgusting, but I would rather have lice than get some sort of parasite from the food or water.  I also got to see the prime example of why socialized medicine is not near the ideal care to be provided.  A woman came up today that had a tumor removed from her breast (obviously it was breast cancer) over a year ago and her wound was still oozing and bleeding.  They didn’t do a mastectomy because the cancer was SO bad.  That would never happen in the US, we would give the woman a mastectomy to increase her chances of survival and decrease the chance of a relapse.  That does not happen here.  It’s so bad, too bad you don’t get the care.  That is so sad. 

I think today that I saw a little more need in the community and really felt that we were doing a great thing for these people.  I was talking with a couple other people the past couple days and realized that this trip really wasn’t to perform skills and get better at nursing because a lot of the equipment and theory is not behind the medicine here.  They do what they can, when they can, with what they have.  Instead, this trip was to make a difference in these people’s lives.  Whether it was to give the kids a little doll, put a smile on a child’s face, or simply hand over some ibuprofen.  All of these impacted the lives of people here.  I am coming to the end of this trip and feeling really satisfied with what we have been doing here.  It has been a lot of fun, challenging, and fulfilling. 

We did slightly get to change our itinerary for the week, which is exciting!  Tomorrow we are going clinic from about 10 am until 12pm and then we are having another piñata party for these kids.  That will be our last day of work!  It is bittersweet because I am ready for a little bit of a break but at the same time it is fun to get to play with the kids and help the people.  Wednesday we are going ziplining in the morning.  It is about an hour drive from where we are in a town near San Luis.  It is supposed to be one of the best in Costa Rica.  That should be a lot of fun.  Don’t worry Mom, it doesn’t look like we will be bungee jumping THIS trip…maybe another time ;).  Thursday, we are going to drive to a waterfall and get to swim in the river and hang out for the day!  So we will technically be having two recreation days.

That is all for right now.  Everyone is watching the bachelor and I am trying to wait until I get home on Friday to catch up on all my shows.  Going to go enjoy my warm shower!!!

The pictures are from crossing the boarder at Costa Rica and Nicaragua (first photo) and then the others are from yesterday at clinic!

Clinic Day One

Today started out a little rough but ended up being a good day.  We woke up and had breakfast.  The lady that owns the hotel that we are staying at made the best french toast this morning I have ever had.  They have a different syrup here than we do in the States.  It is more thick and WAY more sugary.  It was really good.  We left at 9 to go to the clinic.  I was a little anxious to meet the doctors that we are going to be working with this week.  One was an older lady (maybe 40s?) and one of younger 30s.  They were really good.  When we showed up for the clinic there was no one there waiting for us, which was different because Nicaragua people were lined up to see us.  We ended up seeing a total of 35 patients today which is a record for one of the translators.  She told me that she has never ever had that many people in one day.  Props to us!  We ended up changing the way we were seeing people and we were able to see more people in a shorter amount of time.  It ended up picking up later in the afternoon.  Everyone seemed to show up right as we were picking things up, which kind of stinks because we wanted some down time today, and we didn't quite get that.  There were some personalities today from the kiddos at the clinic.  They are a blast.  As you can see from the pictures above they are so hard not just have such a great time with.  We played horsey ride, colored, and other things.  The time actually went by really quick.

I guess the whole deal with the orphanage isn't going to work out.  Something about in order to work with a goverment agency you have to have permission 2 months in advance.  Government, smothernment...So sick and tired so rules and regulations preventing us from helping out.

Looks like we will have another 2ish days of clinic.  It will be interesting to see tomorrow how many people show up for clinic.  We are trying to reorganize our schedule and get an extra rec day.  Somehow I doubt that will happen, but you never know.

For dinner tonight we went up on the mountain and overlooked the whole city of Heredia and San Jose. It was really pretty.  We almost made it for sunset, but with Costa Rica (Tica Time) and Nicaragua (Nica Time), you can always count on at least being 30-45 minutes later than the said time.  Definately no nose picking time!

Tomorrow, is clinic day!  Hope everything goes well!



First Day in Costa Rica- Home Visits

I think this was the first day that I have had a little bit of a breakdown.  It was so hard to adjust to a change in new staff and a different community.  In Nicaragua everything surpassed my expectations.  The staff was so amazing, and that made Costa Rica's staff having some hard shoes to fill.  We went to a neighborhood that was supported by the government and they had cable, running water, and toilets that flushed in their houses.  Granit, there houses weren't great at all.  They were pieced together with metal, wood, and some had dirt floors.  I don't know why I am not thinking that seems not so primitive, but I guess when we compare it to what we saw in Masaya it isn't that bad.  I think that there is WAY more of a need in Nicaragua than in Costa Rica.  Almost everyone we saw today has insurance and government help.  I kind of feel like we are abandoning the Nicaraguan people because they really do need our help and were sick and a majority of the people we saw today weren't sick and didn't need to be seen at the clinic.  I am hoping that it is just a change and we are not use to these settings and it will just take some time to get use. 
Tomorrow we are going to do clinic and see how it goes.  We had dinner tonight with the owner of International Service Learning (ISL) the company we are doing this with, and expressed our concerns with Costa Rica and asked if we could go into an orphange and help the children there.  I really really want to do that.  I think that is what I have fallen in the love with here.  The children are so much fun.  I can't even put into words how much fun it is to see them look at you and smile.  They look at your with these huge brown eyes and it's like you want to give them everything.
I forgot to mention last night that we finally have hot water.  It felt to wonderful to stand underneath the water and actually enjoy a shower!  And I also got to shave these man legs that I have appeared from it being to cold in Nicaragua. 
Dinner tonight was the best every.  We went out to eat and I had chicken fajitas.  Again, beans and rice for lunch and dinner.  We got to stop at walmart this morning on the way to house visits to pick up some odds and ends.  Finally found a Dr. Pepper that I have been craving, however it was caffeine free.  It tasted a little different, I don't know if that is because I have been use to drinking diet dr. pepper and haven't had a regular one in a while.  We got to pick up some other snacks as well which is nice. 

We also got to tour downtown San Jose today. It is a mix between San Fran, Austin, and New York City.  Had the best Churos there!  So yummy!  We went to a market and I got a couple of other things.  Learning how to barter and talk them down in prices is a challenge.  I kind of learned today that once I found out the price, you act like you are not interested anymore and they will come to you and give you it for a dollar cheaper.  It's not like anything is SO expensive, but for some reason I have gotten cheap while being here.  I am complaining for paying over a dollar for a coke because in Nica it was less than a dollar.  Here in Costa Rica it is still cheaper than in the US so I am sure that I am in for a wake up call on Friday.
I am going to upload a couple of pictures from yesterday and today.

13 hours later for 212 Miles

Somehow Mom and I managed to do about 1900 miles in 28 hours this past Christmas traveling from Texas to California, and today we traveled a huge 212 miles and it took us 13 hours.  However, Costa Rica is absolutely one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen.  It is rolling green hills and mountains.  The boarder was probably one of the most sketchiest places I have ever seen.  We had to walk across and it looked awful.  Luckily it didn't take too long to get from one side to the other.  We had to wait a couple hours on the other side of the border for our bus.  It was not too bad, by the time we exchanged into Costa Rica colonias, grab a bite to eat, and just relax before we hopped onto another bus.  Immediately upon crossing the boarder there was a huge difference in the people.  They are not as friendly as the "Nicas".  There is something about the people in Nicaraguan people that is just capivating.  I think this morning we were all a little emotional to leave because it is hard to leave.  We stopped about an hour into Costa Rica and finally had McDonalds.  I never thought I would be so excited to have fast food.  It was amazing! haha.  But Sam, Maria, Mrs. Biggan, and Pavel and I  talked over lunch about our experience in Nicaragua and it was emotional to realize the impact that we had made on these people.   Then we had another 5 hours in the bus.  The bus ride might not have been too terrible if we were not at the disco last night until midnight.  It was a lot of fun.  I had a been there, done that moment last night and noted to myself not to drink too much the previous night before a long bus ride.  The girls did kareokee last night and it was a lot of fun.  Sam and Emily teared it up last night!  They were amazing! 
Our work begins tomorrow morning bright and early.  We are going out into the community for the homes visits.  This was my favorite times from the past week other than the pinata party.  We will then have clinic in the afternoon.
You can tell that there is definately a difference in money here.  Some of these houses are really really nice near where we are staying.  There is more money and things are more expensive compared to Nicaragua.  We can't get Powerade or Diet Coke (Cola Lite) for less than a dollar like we did in Nicaragua.  It is just a little cheaper than the USA.  It will be interesting to see the conditions that we will be going to tomorrow.  If they are just like the previous community that we helped or if they are some what improved.  I do know that the original community that we were suppose to help got changed because there was another community that really needed the help.  I will post tomorrow about how it goes.  Luckily the Wifi here picks up on my computer so I am going to try and post pictures on here for the next week!

Hope everyone has had an amazing Friday and will have a great weekend!

Beach and now disco

The beach was amazing today.  We had so much fun.  When we got there we went staight to the water.  The water felt so good because it was so hot outside.  It is crazy that we are swimming in January and the water was not cold.  It was refreshing!  We ended up renting two surfboards for 30 dollars for the whole day.  The guy said that he would give us the lessons for free with the boards.  I went with Brittany though because she knows how to surf so we went ahead and took the boards out.  It was pretty easy.  I managed to kind of stand up on my very first try.  Some of the waves were a little unpredictable but overall they were pretty good to learn on.  Got a little beat up trying to figure out where my weight needed to be on the board.  I am so use to wakesurfing and keeping weight forward and on the longboards if you do that you face dive into the wave.  But I could definately do surfing everyday, all day.  We also got to play soccer on the bead. OUT.OF.SHAPE. It was so so so much fun.  I actually did pretty well, as I was sucking in air trying not to die.  We also rented 4-wheelers for 10 dollars for 30 minutes.  That was pretty fun, not as much fun as the dirt bikes though.  But for 5 dollars split price, you might as well enjoy it!  We all got a lot of sun today.  We really didn´t realize it until we we got out of the shower.  So hopefully I will come back a little more tan than when we left.  We had dinner back at the hotel when we got back from the beach.  OH...the road to the beach.  It was about an hour and a half drive and the beginning of the road was ok as we were driving through Managua.  But once we got out of the city limits, it was bumpy, with pot holes about 1X2 feet across and about a foot deep.  You pretty much drive all over the road trying to dodge the holes.  The driving and honking here still amazing me.  We wake up in the morning to horns honking like muscial instruments, a cow that appears to be in distress based on his moo, and birds screaming.  I was thinking that as much as these people use their horns (I would think maybe at least once every 30 seconds), they have to be replaced or go out at sometime?  We are leaving in 20 minutes to go to a disco (dance club).  As tired as I am right now, I had to join the group and go.  I wasn´t going to go but then I was thinking when is the next time I am going to be in Nicaragua and go to a dance club?  It is going to be a LONG time...Maybe? 
Oh another thing, I guess 85,000 is a lot of money for a house here in Nicaragua.  But you can buy the land right on the beach and build a really nice house here for about that much money.  You can buy an island for about 250,000, too.  Crazy...
Anyway, have to go.  Not quite sure on the internet in Costa Rica.  We leave at 5 am so if you don´t hear from me in a while that is why.  Hope everything is going well at home!  Please drink all the starbucks, diet dr. pepper, and hamburgers that you can for me!  I am dying for all of the above.  I swear I have turned into beans, rice, and tortillas.  Much love, XOXO