And so ends my weekend travels...

Another chapter of my life comes to a close - my weekend excursions around this amazing country!! It is quite surreal that I won't be traveling somewhere new and exotic this weekend. Well, I will be traveling home, so I still have a lot of travel ahead of me. :P But no more Costa Rican travels!

Since I'm feeling nostalgic, here is a summary of all the places I have been this summer, in chronological order. And, for kicks & giggles, my highlight of each trip:

1. La Fortuna & Arenal

Highlight: Climbing up the dormant volcano, Cerro Chato

2. Playa del Coco

Highlight: Enjoying my first Pacific beach experience

3. Montezuma

Highlight: Jumping off the waterfall (not this one though haha)

4. Manuel Antonio (with my family)

Highlight: Seeing my family <3 I also witnessed a proposal during this sunset - smart man. Very romantic!

5. Isla Tortuga (with my family)

Highlight: More family time & snorkeling!

6. San Jose (Sick weekend...)

Highlight: Walking to mass & seeing this beautiful church! 

7. Santa Teresa

Highlight: SURFING & spending time at my favorite beach in Costa Rica. Also, I had REALLY good food that weekend.

8. Manuel Antonio (all by my lonesome)

Highlight: Got in some hike time AND beach time - a great combo for my last weekend of travels. I also saw a ton of amazing animals.

All in all, Costa Rica is a very diverse & beautiful country. I have been very blessed to experience it. There was a lot of stuff I didn't get to do (zip-lining, the Caribbean coast), but that is just an excuse to come back in the future! :)

As for this past weekend, I went totally solo to Manuel Antonio - the plans I had made the weekend I got sick. It was nice to have the last weekend totally to myself, as it allowed for a lot of reflection of my entire experience. Me time is good.

I stayed at the worst hostel of my trip so far, but all things considered, it could have been way worse. The life of an adventuresome, cool backpacker might not be the life for me - hostels are great, but after living in one for 2 months & bopping around to different ones every weekend, I just think that the backpacking life is not for me. One of the more "interesting" hostel experiences of the summer - I got up really early this Sunday & when I hopped out of my top bunk bed, I was very surprised to see the girl below me was sleeping COMPLETELY naked! It is NEVER hot enough to sleep naked in a room full of people you don't know - is that not common sense? Not what I needed to see first thing in the morning. :P

The trip started out pretty rough. I got off the bus too early, so I was wandering around Quepos for a bit before I was able to find the public bus stop to get further into Manuel Antonio. Thankfully, I had been in Manuel Antonio before so I had an idea of where I was headed - that saved some stress. When I finally made it to my hostel, I was irritated to discover that the hostel did not accept credit cards. I used what cash I brought with me & then hiked further down into Manuel Antonio to find the ATM. Another irritating moment - the ATM wouldn't accept my PIN number for my Brueggeman P-Card, so I had to use my personal account (TOTALLY a first-world problem, but it was really irritating because I just confirmed my PIN a few days before...). Basically, I was just being a brat, but still, I was not in the best mood. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and I was blessed with the most beautiful sunset.

The picture doesn't do it justice - I will certainly miss sunsets over the Pacific!

I went to bed super early. On Saturday, I woke up around 6:15 so I could get to the national park as it opened. I was still in a not-so-great mood from my troubles the day before. When I got to the entrance of the park, a man immediately approached me asking if I wanted to join a guided tour. I didn't want to, but he gave me about 2 seconds to decide before yanking me over to the ticket booth. I forked over an additional $20 bucks for the tour - and, boy, am I glad I did! If I hadn't had the guide, I would have just quickly gone through the park, not noticing anything. The tour guide (it was a small group too - AWESOME) slowed me down & really made me appreciate every step of the hike (again, God works in funny ways). The guide was also AMAZING at spotting animals. He also had a really powerful telescope, so we got to see a lot of the animals up close! Many of my pictures are taken through the telescope! I saw TONS of sloths, a giant red-winged grasshopper, 2 species of bats (insect eating & fruit eating), 3 different species of monkeys, a perched hummingbird, lots of lizards, crabs, and other odd bugs - none of which I probably would have seen if I had gone alone. It was awesome! The tour guide also pointed out different trails around the park; I would have also missed out on my cool hiking as well had I opted to sulk around by myself. Seeing all the animals & slowly enjoying my time lifted my mood, too. :) 

Squirrel monkey / Titi

So this is NOT my picture, but it illustrates well the size & color of the giant red-winged grasshopper. I was AMAZED at how big it was!!

Camoflauge! 

Sloth / perezoso 

I saw tons of them! They are actually super hard to spot, as the next picture illustrates.

Can you spot the sloth? This photo was zoomed in a bit, too. Thank you, awesome tour guide Albin, for finding us lots of sloths.

Hummingbird / colibrí 

I love the hummingbirds in Costa Rica, so I got myself this hummingbird tapestry to hang in my room!

Splurge!! I LOVE it!!! It will look so nice on my wall. <3

Howler monkeys / congos

White-faced capuchins / carita blanca

These little guys were HILARIOUS! I don't like monkeys that much (I find them kind of creepy), but it was so fun to watch them run around & interact with the tourists.

After much googling, I believe this is a nogodinid planthopper. Fabulous, right?

I was super pumped to see all the wildlife! After I parted ways from the tour guide, I did a hike around Punta Catedral (Cathedral Point). It was great - sooooo quiet & I only saw 5 other people during the entire hike! This really allowed for some nice quiet thinking & reflection. Plus I didn't have to fight to see the awesome views. :) 

Waves / olas

Pretty pretty!

Also, an observation about Costa Rica: from what I've seen (which hasn't been much, so this may be a poor judgment), they seem to try hard to make these experiences friendly for people with disabilities. When I was in Santa Teresa, there was a surf camp for children with disabilities, and during my hike at Manuel Antonio, there were several electric-powered golf carts buzzing around to help individuals with handicaps. 

In conclusion, I am very sad to say goodbye to my weekend adventures. As for this week, I have 4 more days left at Sanigest! :O Not sure what all I will be doing, but I have no doubt that the last week will be as much of a roller coaster as the previous 8. ;) Today was good. Odd jobs, again. The Malawi lit review rose from the dead, but luckily it was just for a formatting check. I also met a new friend:

Hello, nice to meet you, little baby lizard.

I didn't have my camera or phone at the office, so I took this shot very gracefully with my laptop. To try to break the ice, I gave him a little chunk of my apple (didn't have anything else on me, and I wasn't about to go catch him a bug). He just stared at it all day. I think he is confused?  

For lunch, I went to a Greek restaurant near my office - got a yummy falafel wrap and some pita & hummus. Last night I made mac & cheese and I was planning on bringing it into the office. I forgot it, but I'm not mad. In order to save some money & not purchase too much food for my final week, I bought 50 cent butter & a small carton of lactose-free milk. Advice: if you are a mac & cheese aficionado like myself, DO NOT make mac & cheese with 50 cent butter & lactose-free milk. 

Anyways, I paid in all coins at the restaurant. Totally obnoxious, but I've been collecting my change all summer. Costa Rican coins are really clunky, so having them in my wallet is annoying. I put them in a plastic baggy in my room and now, voilá, I have a baggy of coins valuing approximately $11 I need to spend in the next few days! Cha-ching.  

My next post will more than likely be my last. I have a long layover in Miami, so I'll have time to reflect on the journey & type up a nice final tribute to my Fellowship. Until then, I am going to try & live in the moment, cherishing every last second on this crazy awesome adventure!

amdg. 

The final leg

Happy Thursday! My week has gone well so far. Nothing too crazy, which is not a bad thing - now that I am in the final leg of this journey my motivation is not what it was 7.5 weeks ago... ;) If I'm being honest. I'm still working hard, but at the same time, it is hard to focus with my time here dwindling down.

I've done a variety of little projects this week, including some more additions to the big China chapter. Other than that, nothing too strenuous - basic data analysis, visual aid redesign, website edits, and some other odd tasks. I've been doing a lot of document translations lately, which is fun! I did zumba today, too. :)

On different note, I have been working on a bigger project, unrelated to Sanigest, more for fun & for the Fellowship itself. I haven't talked much about it to anyone, because it kind of stresses me out haha. I'm attempting to do a study on universal health coverage (essentially what I tell everyone my Fellowship is about.. "Oh, you know, healthcare..."). The study I am trying to do aims to examine whether or not universal coverage in North America really benefits those living on the margins, focusing on those living with HIV/AIDS. I've done a lot of research on HIV/AIDS at Sanigest, so I wanted to pull that into the additional research I am doing. When I have free time, I am doing a lot of reading, researching, and typing for this research. I find it really interesting, but it has kind of been a thorn in my side - I'm on the computer alllllllll day at work, so working MORE on my computer at night really kills my eyes. 20/20 eyesight, begone! Other than the computer thing, I am really excited about this research. It will help me develop some new skills, as I am planning on doing some statistical analysis with the data - something I haven't done a lot before this! Yay, new skills! Also, I think it will give me something a bit more concrete for my Fellowship. The intangibles of growing as a person & the journey of self-discovery are what makes the Fellowship so special, but I do want to have SOME physical proof that I learned something. ;) A very kind professor from Xavier has offered to help me with it, so it is nice to have that additional support. 

Other than that, not much new to report! I only have 9 days left in Costa Rica, which is absolutely insane. I cannot believe it!! My fellow intern Faye has left Sanigest, so I will have 6 days in the office alone. 

I'm excited to go back to the US, but I am certainly sad that this part of my life is coming to a close - it has been a crazy adventure, and I have learned so much about myself. What an opportunity! Go Brueggeman Fellows. :) 

As for this weekend, I am doing what I had planned to do the weekend that I got sick - I am headed to Manuel Antonio! I will be by myself. Not a super big fan of taking buses & cabs alone, but I'm definitely more used to it than I was when I first arrived to Costa Rica! Tomorrow I will head there right after work & get settled. Hopefully it doesn't rain! I am looking to go into the national park early early early on Saturday for a little hike & some wildlife interactions. :) Hopefully a lot of good pictures to come! 

¡Ciao!

amdg. 

Hang ten!

Hello! I had an AWESOME weekend! Ah! Also, I apologize for my lack of impressive adjectives in this post. I have a problem of saying "awesome" a lot, and that is definitely evident here... Ooops. I did substitute it for "amazing" a couple of times, though. ;)

Faye & I left work on early Friday to catch a bus to Santa Teresa. The trip from Santa Teresa is a long one - cab to the bus station, 2.5ish hour bus ride to Puntarenas, 1.5ish hour ferry ride, then another 2 hour bus ride. It didn't seem too bad though! I really enjoyed the ferry ride! The views are stunning.

Once we got to Santa Teresa, we found our hostel - Casa Zen! It was a cool little place located right near the beach. We grabbed dinner at the hostel. I had some casado, but after 7 weeks of pretending I like beans and rice, I think I have finally reached my limit. Casado is so rich, too - I don't think I have ever been able to finish a whole plate. Maybe 2 weeks premature, but I am retiring from casado. No más.

On Saturday, I had my amazing surfing lesson!! First thing in the morning! It was so much fun! Also, allow me to brag, but I did exceptionally well, for a total beginner. One of the instructors taught me the basics for about 10 minutes on the beach, and then we got right in the water with everyone else! No messing around. AND I was able to stand every single time! Even my first time on the board! :O It was really fun! Super hard though. I am so sore and very bruised. I had an accidental collision with another girl's board. This little girl (probably 9yo) was pushing her board out to sea in front of me. I thought we had enough space, but a HUGE swell came, knocking her & her board back to me. She was so small that she didn't have control over her board, so it came plummeting straight for my face. Thankfully, I dove under water as fast as I could, but as I dove my legs came up & her board rammed full force into my shin. I was convinced for a few moments that I had broken my tibia, but after swimming it off, it realized I was fine. Didn't stop me! I kept on surfing. I now just have a pretty sweet bruise where the board hit me. It also kind of hurts to walk, but not too bad. I'm actually bruised all over - ribs, hips, knees, (I think) my bottom. I think it is from aggressively hopping on my board. I also have board rash on the inside of my right thigh & above my left knee. I am wearing each bruise & rash with pride though - I earned them!

It was a blast. We ended up surfing for 2.5 hours! The lesson was only supposed to be 1.5 hours. The place I went was awesome - Del Soul Surf school! If any of you are ever in Santa Teresa, GO TO THIS PLACE!! The main instructor, Amit, is a former Israeli surfing champion & has been surfing for 33 years (since he was FIVE YEARS OLD). Super nice guy, too! He was so positive and kept telling me how awesome I was doing. The positive affirmation was great! Bragging again (what is humility?), but he told me that I was a natural - there was a nice family from Israel that was also taking lessons from Amit. They were on their fifth lesson, and I was doing almost the same stuff as them, after 2.5 hours on the board!!

In summary, dropping everything & moving to the beach to become a surfer is not out of the question. :)

Also, I definitely reached my zenith of coolness - driving in a jeep with the jungle to the left & the beach to the right, with 10 surfboards strapped to the roof of the car, jamming out to cool surfer music with a champion surfer after a seriously awesome surfing session. I will never be cooler.

Hang ten!

After my lesson, I walked this super awesome organic, vegetarian café + art studio. The building and furniture were all white - the only color in the place was the art, which was everywhere. They were playing super peaceful music, too. I ordered a cup of what was literally the best tea I have ever had in my life. I have no idea what it was, other than it was a green tea with ginger and turmeric and something else. It was AMAZING. I also had a delicious panini with lots of cheese and tomatoes. Now whenever someone asks me to go to my "happy place," I will be in Santa Teresa, having awesome tea after an awesome surfing lesson in the most blissful little beach + jungle café. It was PERFECT.  

After my lovely meal & lesson, I went for a nice long walk on the beach (continuing the perfection). This beach was absolutely breathtaking. By far my favorite. And, it wasn't crowded OR LOUD. Every other beach I have been to has been a bumpin' party. Which is cool & all, but I like my beaches serene & peaceful. Without DJ Random Tico in the background dropping a beat. 

!!!!! From a movie, I swear 

There were tons of shells at the beach! It was so beautiful

I also had a good time climbing some rocks at the beach. It is a Brueggeman Fellow requirement to climb things - it's in the small print on the application.  

Stunning

Faye & I ate lunch at this incredible little sandwich shop. I was so hungry from surfing that I had not problem wolfing down a prosciutto, feta cheese, and arugula sandwich. MMMMMMM. So good. After that, I just hung around. I sat on the beach for a couple of hours & just watched the waves. It was quiet & relaxing - more perfection. Faye & I tried to catch the sunset, but no such luck, as it was a little too cloudy. After attempting to watch the sunset, we went to a candlelit yoga class. Now, I always forget how much I don't like doing yoga until I am actually doing it. I can't touch my toes & my balance is terrible. Yes, a sign I should probably do more yoga, but it just makes it painful, too. :p Thankfully it was a tame class, but every time we went into downward-facing dog, my poor, inflexible body almost died. It was a nice way to stretch after the strenuous surfing lesson, though. 

After yoga, Faye, a new friend named Ali, and I went across the street for some wine & EMPANADAS. I spent WAY too much money on food this weekend (oops). We ate dinner & then retreated to the hostel to play cards for a bit. Faye & I stayed up chatting until about midnight. Hindsight, probably wasn't the best idea - I had a 5:00 am wake-up to catch the bus back to San Jose. I wanted to get back early so I could have time tonight to relax, unpack, and go to mass. It was definitely a good decision. The trip went smoothly and I made it back to San Jose safely. I went to mass with the woman who owns my hostel (ahhhh, I got to ride in a car that wasn't a taxi!). After mass, I walked to the store and got a giant cinnamon roll and a nice creamy cappuccino. I've been trying to eat healthy, but today I just didn't care!! Cinnamon rolls forever! 

In short, I had an amazing weekend. I would definitely say it has been one of my favorites - maybe tied with Arenal, or maybe the best. I can't decide because everything is so wonderful!! 

Scary thing - I only have one more weekend left of Costa Rican travels!! :O I can't believe it. I'll be making plans later this week for that. Ah. Also hoping for a good week at my crazy job! T-minus 10 days at the office... :O

Where the heck did time go?!

amdg. 

Week 7 update!

Coming off what have been arguably the most difficult two weeks of my time in Costa Rica, I have felt pretty good about this week. Nothing too exciting (not always a bad thing!), but nothing too boring, either. A nice medium. I am now nearly 2 weeks away from the end of my Fellowship. I must confess, I am excited to get home and return to some sort of state of normalcy (and a state of always having pizza available), but I am very saddened that my time here is coming to a close. I have learned so much and grown up so much - this is truly an experience I will never forget! Also there is so much I won't be able to see here in Costa Rica - an excuse to come back in the future, I guess. :)

Work has gone fairly well this week. At the beginning of the week, we received feedback on our massive China chapter that we had written last week. Unfortunately, we apparently missed the mark and didn't do exactly what the president wanted us to do. That was frustrating, but there was nothing to be done besides roll up our sleeves, regrease the elbows, and get to work. I ended up doing four additional case studies: capital investment planning (CIP) for an aging population in Netherlands, CIP for disability services in New South Wales (Australia), Michigan Certificate of Need program, and Kentucky's Certificate of Need program. I also typed up a "Lessons Learned" section for each of the case studies. Phew, talk about a lot of research! :O I went from knowing absolutely nothing about service-based CIP, to knowing a fair amount (I wouldn't say I know a lot, but I surprise myself sometimes). Our document ended up being around 75 pages long.

I am confident that I will return to Xavier in the August with no problem adjusting to the workload, given what I have had to do this summer. :p

This week I have also helped with editing pages for Sanigest's updated website. I have enjoyed this a lot. I have always really liked reading and editing papers, and this is right up that alley. I've also made comments on the format and structure of the website. It has been cool to read about all the different projects that Sanigest has completed or is in the process of completing. Editing the website has helped me learn more about the organization (even though I have been here for a month and a half, haha). It's also soothing because it isn't terribly stressful! Very soothing after the extremely stressful China project. :)

Oh, happy to report, my appetite is back! While I've certainly been eating a lot less than normal, I am eating! On Tuesday, I made my blessed eggplant pizza. I have one eggplant left and, you know what? I may have eggplant pizza tonight, making that TWICE in one week! Treat yo'self, Haley!

I had a nice cultural experience last night. Apparently once a year, San Jose opens its museums to the public for free of charge, so Faye, Alex, another new friend Sandra (from France), and I hopped on a bus after work and headed downtown to see some art! It was also interesting because we got to see downtown San Jose in its prime hustle and bustle. Now, I have always enjoyed cities - I love my Cincinnati DEARLY and I have a ton of amazing childhood memories from Chicago. Cities, to me, really have that sort of romantic and chic coolness to them. You can't deny the magic of approaching a city skyline from afar. Alas, San Jose doesn't really manifest that "magic." Every travel book I have seen has suggested "get in and out of the city as quickly as possible," and I don't necessarily disagree. That being said, I am glad I took a stroll through the center of the city, just to see it. Also, there are A LOT of Subways and McDonald's here in San Jose. Too many McDonald's.

Anyways, the museum we saw was pretty cool. Nothing too special, and it only took us about an hour (maybe) to get through the whole thing. The art was from a lot of local artists, I think. I didn't take a lot of pictures - a lot of the art was super modern, and that kind of art doesn't really speak to me. I'm more of a Claude Monet kind of girl. Not that I'm an art expert or anything - the last art class I took was in the 8th grade, and I don't frequent art museums as often as I probably could or should. I like bright colors, but more natural, flowy kind of abstract work (I know, I know - my use of technical art terms makes me look very hip and educated). Sharp lines & contorted shapes just aren't really my thing. For example, there was a series of close-up photographs of hair follicles... yeah, not my thing. But, hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! The museum was also really loud and crowded - I felt very rushed to get through.

The only picture I took in the art section of the museum

Maximum security prison or museum? I may never know... 

Besides this door, I was pretty shocked by the lack of security in the museum, especially in the gold part. I could have slipped my tiny hands under the glass and grabbed an artifact or two, and I'm not sure they would have known. 

This museum contained gold work from indigenous cultures. It was pretty cool. I also practiced my Spanish by reading as much as I could of the descriptions. I was actually able to comprehend a lot - perhaps my Spanish has improved!

Hello, little gold people.

So, it was actually an art museum plus historical gold museum plus history museum all rolled into one little museum. Also, it was all underground the main square! That was pretty cool. 

Indigenous people of Costa Rica

All in all, glad I had the experience, but I probably wouldn't go back. There is a Jade Museum that we were unable to get to, so I am interested to go to that, if time allows!

As for this weekend, I am going to Playa Santa Teresa. Here it is on a map:

The most exciting thing about this weekend? I AM GOING TO TAKE A SURFING LESSON! I am so excited for this! Sure, I'm not super comfortable with being out too far in the ocean, but as it is just a beginner lesson, I'm sure I won't be doing anything too crazy. I am also staying at a yoga hostel. So after this weekend, I will be very "hang ten," super chill (maybe ;)).

¡Paz, amigos!

amdg. 

Takin' it easy

Unfortunately, my Manuel Antonio plans were thwarted by a nasty little stomach bug. I woke up around 3:00 am on Friday very sick. Thankfully, I've been able to retain fluids & food since Friday afternoon, but my appetite has yet to return. My immune system has decided to take a vacation for the past month and a half.

Warning: this post might not be the most fluid or well-written because my brain is pretty fried right now.

So, this weekend was a pretty laid-back one, considering all of the crazy travels I have been doing the past 5 weekends. I didn't leave my bed all of Friday. Saturday wasn't much different, except I ventured to the common area of my hostel and relaxed on the couch. I also managed to walk to the store to grab some food for myself. Since I wasn't feeling up to much, I managed to watch a whole season of Criminal Minds on Netflix. An impressive (pathetic?) feat, considering there are about 25 episodes in a season, and each episode is about 45 minutes long. Please, don't do the math on that. 

Today I am feeling a bit better. I graduated to toast this morning for breakfast, and quickly accelerated to pancakes and strawberries for lunch! Much to my dismay, I couldn't finish my pancakes or strawberries, but it was a start. 

I haven't actually explored San Jose much, so I decided I would go on a little adventure today and sightsee a bit. Truthfully, I don't really have too much of a desire to "get lost" and roam about San Jose, so I think what I did today will be the extent of my San Jose adventures (despite living here, during the weekdays, of course!). I wanted to go to mass at the main cathedral in San Jose, so I looked it up on Google (Google is the best). The main cathedral in town, Catedral Metropolitana, is located in the heart of the city, about 3.5 km away from where I am living. The listed mass times online were 9:00, 10:30, and noon, so I figured if I grabbed a cab around 9:45, I could get there a bit early and look around for a bit. I took one last look at the map and headed out. I still wasn't feeling super, but I needed to stretch my legs and get some fresh air!

Also, Costa Rica fun fact: finding mass times online basically requires the skills of an FBI agent. It is nearly impossible to find the times online, so I often just end up guessing. 10:00 am is normally a safe bet. 

I walked to el estadio nacional down the street - there is a hotel right there, so there are always a ton of cabs. However, I didn't see any! There did seem to be some sort of carnival-circus thing going on. Also, firefighters EVERYWHERE. As there was no fire around, I assumed it was some sort of firefighter celebration (fun fact #2: in Spanish, firefighter is "bombero"). I walked past the national stadium down the main road by Parque La Sabana (the biggest park in the city). I was content with walking, so I didn't feel the need to flag a cab down right away. Once I reached the end of the park, I tried to flag down a cab. The first one that passed had people in it, so, being persistent as ever, I gave up trying to get a cab (haha). I saw a sign pointing to the "sector central," so I continued along the main road following that. As San Jose is a city, there are always cabs and I figured if I really needed to, I could flag one down. I kept walking and walking, not really knowing where I was headed. I have a good memory - I had the picture of the map in my head to the Catedral Metropolitana. I was on the main road, so I felt relatively safe and I knew that I didn't have to go down any tricky streets to get to the church.. I thought, "I could certainly use the exercise, so I will keep walking!" 

However, my sick body finally caught up with my dumb brain and I realized that I was quite tired after about 2 km. As I have mentioned before, my phone isn't super useful here in CR, so I don't take it with me unless I'm out of the city for the weekend. I didn't know how far I was from the church. An interesting thing about being here in CR - I have gotten more used to not constantly checking where I am on journeys or, in cases like this, what the time is. I think it helps me appreciate "the now" better than I did before. 

Anyways, I kept trudging along, when, FINALLY, I looked up and saw a cross on top of a building in the distance. Score, the cathedral! I followed that cross until I made it to a nice little square, with the church. 

A dreary day in San Jose

When I made it inside, I realized they had just started to distribute communion, so I was either really late or really early - mind you, I didn't have my phone, so I didn't know the exact time. I sat and looked around for a bit. It was a very vibrant church. Once mass ended, I went to the entrance in search of the mass times and a clock to figure out which mass I had missed. Churches in Costa Rica don't really post mass times well in the churches either, so I had a bit of a time trying to find the times. Finally, I found a bulletin board with the parish information. Mass times listed at 9:30 and 11:00... Hmm, not what I saw online for La Catedral Metropolitana? Okay, interesting. I ventured around some more, and found this plaque (also, fun fact #3: if you misspell "plaque" as "plague," you get a vastly different sentence. Almost said I found a plague at the church... Historically and just all around disturbing):

If you can't read it, it says, "Esta iglesia dedicada a nuestra Señora de las Mercedes," which basically translates to "this church is dedicated to our Lady of Mercy." In short, I realized I was not at La Catedral Metropolitana, but at a different church, La Iglesia de la Merced! I didn't really care all that much, I was just happy to be at a church and have a place to sit. It was a pretty cool church, too, so I just roamed around before mass started. 

  Lots of colors! It was actually pretty dark in the church, so I had to enhance the photos a bit. Sorry, but no #nofilter

There were TONS of statues in the church - the most I have seen while here in CR

The altar

There were two of these closed-off shrines (?) around the altar

As you can probably tell, the architecture was rather "busy" - A LOT of colors and tons of different statues. I was already feeling pretty trippy from the walk over; plus, I hadn't eaten much - only a can of soup, 4 pieces of bread, and some crackers - since Thursday night. Paying attention was hard, but I felt like it was the easiest mass to follow along with yet. Not sure why, because I definitely wasn't totally with it during mass. :p Also, since all the churches are open in Costa Rica, there tends to be a lot of wildlife interactions inside during mass and, funnily enough, this city mass experience was the most "natural" yet. There were pigeons flying around everywhere! I spotted a little black kitten at one point and was tempted to join a little toddler in chasing it around (I resisted). At one point, I looked up to the ceiling and saw a HUGE city of MASSIVE spiderwebs. I didn't actually see any spiders, but I would not be surprised if the City Hall of Costa Rican tarantulas (are there even tarantulas in CR? I don't care to find out...) is located in La Iglesia de la Merced. 

It was funny, because no one else seemed to notice the cats and the spiders and the birds during mass. I feel like this has to do with the connection to nature here. Back home, I feel like we try to do our best to disconnect entirely from nature. We have the inside world and the outside world, but here it is just one world. I think I like my bug-free world a bit better, but being doing here has certainly been a great experience for me.

After mass, I wasn't feeling the trek back, so I hopped in the cab. Let it be known that I STRONGLY DISLIKE traveling by cabs, especially by myself. In San Jose, I have experienced two different kinds of cab drivers while by myself: the first, that like to ask me how many Costa Rican boyfriends I have & other information that is slightly suggestive, or the second, the silent creepy ones that make me wonder if I am being driven away to my death. (I'm being dramatic, everyone is generally very friendly, but I just don't like cabs.) Today, it was the second type: the man looked like a very scary Vin Diesel - very quiet, and as soon as I got in the car he started blaring this crazy rap music. It was totally fine, except for the fact that he totally ripped me off, but at that point I was too tired to care. I was just happy to be in my neighborhood. I walked the rest of the way and made my pancakes. 

Alright, that is all for now! Hopefully my health continues to improve! Here's to a good week!

amdg. 

"Be the best penguin you can be."

¡Hola!

Happy Thursday! This week has absolutely FLOWN by. It has been really crazy at work, and I've been pretty focused on a big project, which helps time go by a little bit faster.

So, this big project... Where to start? I might be blowing things way out of proportion, which I have a tendency to do, but it has been pretty stressful. The very first week I was here, I was asked to edit & integrate comments into a document. I thought it was the HARDEST THING EVER--hindsight 20/20, it was a piece of cake.

Alright, so what am I doing? From my understanding, we are doing some consulting work for the World Bank, who, in turn, is doing some consulting (or something of that nature) for the government of China regarding their healthcare capital investment planning (CIP). Basically, we are trying to give advice to China on how to move their health CIP from a hospital-centered approach to a more service-based approach. In a nutshell, China is just chucking beds into hospitals and building up facilities based upon population projections and not much else. This causes CIP to naturally favor larger facilities, which can be inefficient and, also, not good for rural communities who don't have easy access to larger facilities. We are trying to advise them to plan their capital investments on the actual health needs of the population using a service-based approach to CIP. Obviously, much more difficult than solely basing CIP on population projections, but it is so much more efficient at helping improve population health. For instance, let's say China has a lot of heart problems going on. What will better prevent and treat chronic heart conditions? 200 extra beds in a city hospital OR a new cath lab & investments in tele-health technologies to give rural communities better access to cardiologist specialists? Well, I'm going to say the latter, and so should you. BTW, this is a pretty crude summary of what we are doing, but you get the general idea.

For this project, Faye and I were asked to write a 40-50 page chapter on various OECD case studies and other evidence to help inform the World Bank and China (insert laugh about how I--me, Haley--am writing something to, more or less, inform/advise/give direction to/whatever the World Bank and the Chinese government on health capital policy. It sounds like I am exaggerating, but this is legitimately what we are doing...). We had Skyped with the president about a week and a half ago, and he gave us the outline for the assignment. Unfortunately, with the Malawi lit review stuff & other projects, we didn't really have time to work on this China project. Also, we didn't really know exactly what we were doing. We had some files that we had been looking over, but when Faye met with the president on Friday, he had explained to her that what we originally doing wasn't what he wanted--and that he wanted us to do more than originally planned... For Wednesday. :|

Needless to say, these past three days have been a bit of a scramble. On Monday, Faye and I split up the tasks and got started immediately on writing up case studies & formatting the chapter. We were given a study on some provinces in China, but it wasn't finished, so I had the job of finishing that. I had to do some data analysis and edit the entire study, including reformatting and restructuring. Basically, redo it. :P After that, I did the same thing for a case study done about service-based CIP with stroke treatment and prevention in OECD countries. Did another case study write-up on CIP at Interior Health in British Columbia and another on the Certificate of Need program in Maine. Edited a bit, searched for some references, filled out a chart summarizing all the case studies... Aye caramba. We finally sent the initial draft to the president--now anxiously awaiting feedback and further instructions.

There are both good things and bad things to this kind of work that I am doing. Actually, I don't really mean "bad" when I say "bad." Perhaps the word "interesting" would be more appropriate. And for "good," let's change that to "positive" So, rephrase: there are both "positive" and "interesting" things to this kind of work I am doing. Yes, that sounds more optimistic.

"Interesting" first:

1. I am not an expert (or really knowledgable, at all) on any of this, so anything I have to write takes a lot of research and reading. Not bad, but when I have to do it on the fly--stressful. Also, I'm quite young & inexperienced, which makes all of this a lot more challenging... and interesting.
2. I am not a procrastinator, by any means, whatsoever. I don't know the exact statistics, but I am pretty sure I am in the minority here. Regardless, doing stuff like this really fast, right before the deadline kind of freaks me out. This is definitely a personal issue, but an interesting dynamic to work through nonetheless.

Now, "positive" things:

1. I AM LEARNING SO MUCH AND IT IS GREAT! I find the research topics to be really cool, and I don't feel as if my Brueggeman trip has been in vain because I am learning so many amazing things that pertain to what I wanted to study in the first place! Yay!
2. I am learning to deal with very stressful things. All my life, I have had a tendency to overdo things and really push myself to the limit (which, I guess isn't exactly a bad thing, but it can be pretty exhausting). I kept really busy in high school with a crazy heavy workload from school, year-round volleyball, and other extracurriculars, and at Xavier, it's the same (minus the volleyball, obv LOL). I like to be busy, but it certainly provides many opportunities for stress. This job is no exception. However, I like to think that the more stressful situations I encounter, the better I am able to handle them. Kind of like bench-pressing. If I keep on bench-pressing stress, eventually I get stronger and stronger. At least that's how I see it. So, with this job, I am learning how to do with a lot of crazy stuff, but it is better preparing me for the workforce and my future. I will be a stress heavy-weight champion soon! ;D
3. Similar to the stress thing, the more I work and the more I am involved, the more I come to appreciate being me. I found this quote today, and not only did it make me laugh, but I think it illustrates well what I am trying to say here:

With this job and life in general, it won't do me any good to try to be anything but myself. I had this same sort of thought last year before Manresa (Xavier freshman orientation, for those non-Xavier readers). I was TERRIFIED that I would be a bad group leader because I'm not outgoing enough, funny enough, nice enough, and the whole litany of "I'm not's." But, I told myself, as long as I tried to be the best "me" as possible, then everything would be okay & I would succeed!

So, I'm just going to be the best little penguin I can be for the next 3.5 weeks at this internship, and everything will be fine. :) Maybe not for China, though... Just kidding, of course. :)

On a semi-related work note, last night some of my coworkers and I went out to a restaurant in Heredia to watch the Costa Rica vs. Jamaica soccer game. Soccer is a HUGE part of the culture here. Hearing "gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaallllllllll" in my hostel has become another background noise, because the owner loves to watch soccer so much. Ticos sure do love their soccer! Unfortunately, for me, I am NOT a soccer fan, at all, whatsoever. It was really fun to spend time with my colleagues because they are all super cool, buuuuut the soccer part was a bit of a snooze. The worst part? THEY TIED. Now, this is probably indicative of the super intense, competitive personality of mine (which has since dulled down since the good ol' volleyball days, thank the Lord). Also, I think it may be a USA thing, too--maybe. I just don't understand how there can't be a winner and a loser. Yes, I understand that there are ways to tell which team is better, but for goodness sake, at least do penalty kicks or something. The American inside me was screaming, "ENTERTAIN ME," while I was stuffing my face with a giant chicken wrap. Try as I may, I can't deny that American culture hasn't affected me in some way. *Sigh.*

As for my weekend plans, I am headed back to Manuel Antonio with my friend Alex. I am so happy she is joining me, because I was originally going to do it alone. Faye is going back to Playa del Coco for a diving trip with sharks, so she isn't coming with us. I'm going back to Manuel Antonio because I didn't get a chance to go into the national park when I was there with my family 2 weeks ago. I want to see some more wildlife! Also, Manuel Antonio is only 3 hours away from San Jose, so a shorter bus ride for me, yay!

Here is a nice quote to end my post:

"May today there be peace within. 

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you use those gifts that you have received, 

and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God."

- St Teresa of Ávila

¡Hasta luego!

amdg. 

Isla Tortuga y más!

Hello, world! As always, I have so much to say & only so little will to write it all. :P To sum up the past few days, I have had a blast!! I won't talk too much about my work in this post--we have a big project to do and I would rather not think about it on this peaceful Sunday.

For starters, on Thursday night I went out to dinner with some of my colleagues to have a goodbye party for one the the employees! We went to this Irish pub. The burgers were delicious! I had a chickpea and black bean burger. I really enjoyed having fun with my colleagues--they are truly truly wonderful people, and I will certainly miss them when I leave. I'm glad I was able to bond with them. Anyways, the pub had really delicious burgers. We had a lot of fun! After some people left, Andrés (the consultant who is leaving) and some others said they wanted to go dancing. I was very hesitant at first & almost went home before Andrés literally dragged me out of the restaurant. In the US, dancing is not something I really enjoy doing--flashback to awkward high school days at dances with lots of inappropriate shenanigans going on (quick story to illustrate how I've been scarred by dances: I was on student council & one of our projects was to plan/set-up/clean-up for homecoming dances. After one dance, we found pantyhose on the dance floor.. No one picked them up, and when we unrolled the tarp on the gym floor for the next big dance... They were still there...)

Now that I have thoroughly grossed you out, back to the story. I was SO glad I went! It was a blast! In Costa Rica (and in Latin America in general, I believe) dancing means actually dancing! Andrés and the other guys we were with tried to teach Faye and me some dances (like bachata), and it was a blast. It was also at a karaoke bar, which made it all the more fun. Most of the music was popular Costa Rican songs, but Britney Spears did make an appearance with "Oops I did it again," which was hilarious. Anyways, long story short workplace bonding = FUN!

On Friday, I left San Jose for Esparza, where I was to meet one of my mother's contacts. This was a bit of an adventure. There are no direct buses for Esparza, so I had to figure out which one to get on. Luckily, a nice boy named John graciously pointed out the correct bus (and the correct bus stop, later that night). I was supposed to call my mom's contact once I got my ticket Funny thing, because my cell phone doesn't actually work here in Costa Rica. I have an international phone the Brueggeman Center gave me, but I didn't really want to use it--only for emergencies. So, I tried my hand at the payphone, which was a total flop. I have never actually used a payphone before, so not only did I not know how to use it, but I didn't know the verbs in the very poorly written instructions. In the end, I whipped out my international phone and tried calling my mom's contact--no answer. Call again--no answer. So I boarded the bus, without actually knowing if I've made contact with this man. I'm headed to a strange town, at night, to meet a man that I have never met and who might not actually be there.. Hmm. I wasn't too stressed out about it, though, funnily enough. I said some prayers, sent his number a few texts, and hoped for the best. THANKFULLY, when I got off the bus, a man called my name, and it turned out to be my mom's contact.

He took to to my host family's house--the most wonderful people! Arianne, the daughter, who is 14, was the sweetest, most gracious host. They fed me dinner and breakfast! Her mom even got me a doughnut (and not just any doughnut, but a DULCE DE LECHE doughnut!) for the boat ride to Isla Tortuga. So nice. I am very grateful for their hospitality (also, their air-conditioning).

On Saturday morning, I met up with my mom and her group. We took a bus to Puntarenas and boarded a dinky little boat for Isla Tortuga! (Isla = island, for you non-Spanish speakers).

The island was very beautiful! As soon as we hopped off the boat, I practically inhaled my doughnut before hopping on another boat to go SNORKELING! It was so cool! I definitely appreciated my maybe-extravagant purchase of a water-proof camera. That camera has been amazing for this trip!!

Go X! You can take the girl out of Xavier, but you can't take the Xavier out of the girl. <3

I don't always take selfies, but when I do, you can't see my face & I almost drown in the process. 

Fishies 

More little friends

So beautiful!

Besides snorkeling, we went on a very mild banana boat ride and just relaxed on the beach. I have already received several compliments about how tan I look--watch out, world! I'm becoming fabulous. We left the island around 3:00. Arianne took me back to her aunt's house, where we cleaned up. At 8:30, we left for one of the other girl's house for a "despedida" party! My mom and her students leave on Monday, so they had a goodbye celebration for them. Much milder than my Thursday despedida. :P I tried ceviche for the first time. It tasted fine, but because I know how it is made, it grossed me out a bit. Which is weird because I love sushi, but I can't explain my brain sometimes. :p Basically, ceviche is fish that has been refrigerated for several days, and that's it. I've certainly eaten weirder things, but for some reason this grosses me out. 

This morning, I met my mom in downtown Esparza for mass. It was another beautiful church! The priest was from Spain, and I think because I have had several professors from Spain, I felt like I understood him a bit better. I have been to SIX Spanish masses! It's been great, but I am very much looking forward to returning to mass in English. And with song sheets for music so I can sing along!

¡Bonita!

After mass, my mom and I went to a soda and grabbed some beverages. It was SO HOT. We sat and chatted for a bit, which was really nice. I love my mom. <3

Yay, cookies and my mom! Can you tell I haven't showered? What is personal hygiene when you are "backpacking" every weekend?

We also went to the grocery store, where I picked up some more cookies & green tea! My mom saw me off to the bus station, and I was very sad to leave her. To make matters worse, the bus was PACKED. I had to stand for the first hour of the ride. We were also stuck in traffic at one point due to a van that caught on fire ahead of us. Standing on the bus was very interesting, because the roads going up the mountains and hills are very winding. It was interesting, but not life-threatening. Also, counting it as my workout for the weekend. 

I got back to San Jose early (around 2:00) so I have just been relaxing--doing nothing is really awesome, since I haven't had the chance to do that in awhile. Also, I met a girl FROM CINCINNATI! :O We talked for a really long time--she is super cool! Really awesome vibe. 

I'm bracing myself for a busy week of work, but I am excited about all the learning opportunities that are ahead of me this week (translation: I'm trying really hard to be positive about the insane amount of work I have to do, and that's the best I can do at this point).

Until, next time, amigos!

Typical. 

Family! Also a picture (finally) with my dad.