alan test blog

We began the trip to Isla Chira monday morning. A little while into the trip, we stopped by a beach for lunch.

We hopped back in the van and continued on our trip.  This time, we took a boat.








Here are a couple of photos from the boat tour a few hours before we departed back for the mainland.  I still find it hard to believe, but there are animals that live in places other than zoos.

We may encounter a lot of obstacles on the road of life that may lead us away from our goals. Leadership, intelligence, responsibility, and determination are just a few of the essentials needed to keep ourselves on track.  Last week in Alajuelita we demonstrated just that to a group of children, as they followed the lives of four childhood friends.  They each had their own goals in life, but would they make it or succomb to temptation?

The four friends:

 The audience sits in stunned silence as they behold the masterpiece unfolding before their very eyes:
After the performance, children received bracelets enscribed with the tenets of the road of life. 
Setting goals in life from an early age will give you the direction you need.  I am biased towards this person's goal:

Alright, so last weekend we went to Monte Verde for some fun.  One of the activities we've heard about that we "must" do was ziplining.  I did not know exactly what ziplining was before coming to Costa Rica, so for the uninitiated, ziplining is basically a way of traveling from tree to tree via a series of wires strung high off the ground.  The adventure starts when you strap on the harness, attach the carbiners to the zipline, and let gravity do the work as you plunge into the cool mist.  Saturday morning we eagerly put on some warm clothes and took the bus to the cloud forest where the ziplines are located.  It's called a cloud forest because the elevation is so high that the forest is enveloped in clouds year-round.  The activity didn't go by that smoothly, however.  Boramee explains:

With a smile on her face and bravery in her eyes, Sukhi was then transported to Clinica Biblica in San Jose, one of the top hospitals in Central America.  Surgery was required to fix her leg.  After rating her pain on the happy face scale, she was transported to the OR.

 The surgery was successful.  The nurses celebrated with a feast of a sandwich and mac & cheese served with a side of baby food.
The next day, other members of the team visited the Bains as she recovered.  It was my birthday that day and it was a great present to see that my friend was OK.



Coming soon:  Monte Verde gives Sukhi a present.

For the past week or so we have been stationed at a clinic in a clinic in Jazmin.  It's a small area that is in strong need for health care.  We set up shop in an empty building and serve the patients during the first part of the day.  We set up all the necessities.  There's an area for registration, a doctor's office, a pharmacy, and a place for kids to play.

There are some events from last week I haven´t posted about.  First, was a parasite lecture.  Problems with parasites are more prevalent here in Costa Rica than in the states.  Albendazol is an amazing drug.  After a lecture, we even got to see some specimens in class.

When we´re not in the clinic, we also like to have fun.  One of the activities we´ve been doing is dance class.  We´ve been learning salsa, merengue, cha cha cha, swing, etc.  We get 4 hours of lessons each week.  Is it awesome?

Obviously.


Even in Spanish class, we get down.  Sorry for the bad dancing, guys.  We were taught to make faces when we do turns.  I assure you I am king of the dance floor now(or maybe not).    But for this video, you may want to cover your eyes.

We went to a couple of volcanoes over the weekend.  Lots of fun.  Videos coming soon, including some dancing action.

Sometimes, natural beauty can be ruined by tourism.

Other times, natural beauty is left untouched.
We saw a few animals...
...and acted like animals ourselves.
Don't forget the plants and waterfalls.
Even the cows too.

Hey, everybody.  Alan, Boramee, Josh, Sara, and Sukhi here.  It's been a while since our last update, so I'll share a few more things than I originally planned.  Here we go...

Saturday we arrived in San Jose, CR.  The area is much more developed than Limon, Nicaragua, where we were previously.  The city is much bigger than say, Lansing, Michigan, and it has all the amenities of a big city, like good public transit, city tours, plenty of restaurants, etc.

We are each staying with host families in nearby Santa Ana.  The hospitality of the people here is incredible and living with a family has been a great way to immerse ourselves in the culture here.

On Sunday, along with my host mom, we toured around the city, using a "train" that goes around the city.

There were lots of beautiful churches...
...and beautiful parks.
But perhaps the most exciting thing was that Sunday was also the day of the Costa Rican general elections.  The air was filled with the sounds of car horns and people everywhere were proud to display their political affiliations.
Even kids were into it.
Many people were crowded around the central part of the city, supporting their favorite candidate.
And if you didn't support their candidate, expect a little talk.
By the way, Laura won.  She is the first female president in Costa Rica's history.

Monday, we arrived at the clinic.

Tuesday, we worked in the clinic and attended Spanish class in San Jose.  Here, we receive 4 hours of Spanish class each week.

Today at clinic we prepared for our first charla, which we will give tomorrow.  It's going to be great.  More in our next update.

Also in the next update, Dr. Schnuth introduces us to the clinic.

Adios!