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. 

Happy July! :)

I cannot believe it is July! :O July 1st is a big milestone in my Brueggeman project: OFFICIALLY one month down and exactly one month until I am flying back home to the US! So I celebrated by going to Starbucks (this is a no-judgment zone, BTW), where I purchased a nice cookie & a chai tea latte. My only regret being that I don't regret this purchase at all... >:D

This week has gone pretty well! I've been in a really good mood, which has helped with the less not-so-good stuff. For instance, on Monday I had a bad salad and suffered some rather unfortunate consequences for about 48 hours. Manageable, but unfortunate nonetheless. :p However, I am happy to report that today I have been able to eat without feeling too horribly queasy! Another reason to celebrate with a cookie and super unhealthy beverage.

On the subject of food, I really impressed myself last night by making little mini pizzas with eggplant! Super basic (stove-top made with sliced eggplant, some marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese), but the beautiful thing about eggplant is that it doesn't take much to make it really good. In my humble opinion, anyways. My little eggplant pizzas were REALLY good! I will definitely do it again soon.

Eggplant pizza!

Tonight for dinner I think I will make green beans--I got some fresh (?) ones from the store on Monday. And something else, but I can't think of anything right now that I have at the hostel that will go well with green beans. So, I might just eat green beans and eggs for dinner. This illustrates quite well the food struggles of this summer. I never have needed to consistently cook for myself before. Also, we don't have a working oven at the hostel I am staying at, so that eliminates A LOT of options. I have a stovetop, a microwave, and fridge at the hostel. And a blender. It's been working out fine the past month, but I've definitely had to adjust! And adjusting on the fly means a lot of over-easy eggs and grilled cheese; based upon that, I really think I went above and beyond last night with my mini eggplant pizzas. Again, as I've said before--it's the little things in life. :P I have discovered that I enjoy cooking for myself, though. So come fall when I have the beautiful conveniences of an oven and an unnecessarily bountiful American grocery store, I think I will really enjoy making new, more adventurous things. :)

Nothing really abnormally crazy to report about work this week. I have mostly been working on further updates to the Malawi literature review. Thankfully, it has been pretty easy. The president wanted us to reformat the appendices, so I have been working on that the past 2 days. Unfortunately, that required looking up every reference in the appendix, but it was only about 30-40 references--manageable. I have to do one more bit of research and then HOPEFULLY the literature review will finally be done!

We are working on the China capital investment project--well, kind of working on it. Amidst all the other assignments, I haven't had time to do research for it, but luckily we have until July 10th or so before it needs to be completed.

Also, today during my lunch break I played ping-pong with some of the IT guys! I won one game and lost another. Apparently, ping-pong is still called ping-pong in Costa Rica. It was fun! :) Tomorrow everyone is going out to celebrate one of the consultant's last day at Sanigest. He is leaving to go to graduate school in the UK. Yay, workplace bonding!

As for this weekend, I will be with my family again! However, some different living arrangements have been made. I will be staying with a host family for two nights! :D I am VERY excited about this. For one, less money (always a good thing), but mostly because I really want to experience some Costa Rican culture. You might say, "now, Haley, you've been in Costa Rica a month! You have definitely experienced the culture by now!" Yes, of course, but there is something important you need to realize about Costa Rica: it really thrives from tourism. And an unfortunate side-effect of tourism is the catering towards the needs and wants of tourists. So, every weekend I have been traveling to touristy destinations, experiencing the "culture," but in a way that is undoubtedly tainted by tourism. And as I am living in a hostel, I don't get to experience much during the week. Therefore, I am VERY excited to go live with a Costa Rican family this weekend! It might only be for a one day and two nights, but I think that should be enough to give me a taste.

Besides that, I am going with my mom's students (yay, high school kids--just kidding, I'm sure they are all lovely) on a boat tour of Isla Tortuga! Again, thankfully paid for by my loving parents. <3

Here is a map-- Isla Tortuga is basically in the center of the triangle made by Puntarenas, Jaco, and Montezuma

If you've been paying attention to my travels, you've probably noticed that all of my trips have been concentrated on the Pacific coast. This is because there have been HORRENDOUS flooding problems on the Caribbean coast. Over a thousand people have been evacuated from their homes, the Panama government has sent helicopters to help with search-and-rescue missions, 25 communities have become completely isolated, and the president of Costa Rica has (I think) declared a state of emergency. 

So, that is why I haven't traveled to the Caribbean coast. No worries, I am perfectly safe in San Jose. For as small as a country as it is, Costa Rica is INCREDIBLY diverse. It's truly amazing. The Caribbean coast is under a state of emergency, San Jose experiences mild weather akin to late-spring of Ohio, and the Pacific coast is blistering hot with extreme humidity. Quite interesting!

Anyways, off to make my green beans and "something else." ¡Hasta luego!

amdg. 

Playas, perezosos, y papaya... Oh my!

I had a very wonderful weekend at Manuel Antonio! For those of you who don't know, my mother is a Spanish teacher & has brought down several of her Spanish students to Costa Rica as part of an exchange program (the Costa Ricans were up in the US back in January). Anyways, my family is down here as part of that trip, so I was able to spend the weekend with them! It was nice for several reasons: 1) nice to see family; 2) great to see familiar faces after not being around ANY for a solid month (which is harder than you might imagine); and 3) I saved a lot of money because my nice parents bought me food and paid for my living arrangements (which included AIR-CONDITIONING!).

Anyways, it was really great to see them and we had a very nice time. Unfortunately, I didn't go into the National Park part of Manuel Antonio, but the beaches were very nice.

Hermanas y la playa

Not feeling quite as adventurous as I have been the past few weeks, I decided not to go parasailing with my sisters. To reference an earlier post, I'm not a super huge fan of deep, dark water, so flying over it attached to a parachute didn't really sound appealing to me. I happily watched from the shore. 

After spending some time at the beach on Saturday, we showered up and took a bus into Quepos, a town near Manuel Antonio. We stopped for dinner at a GLORIOUS Italian restaurant. Back home, a majority of my favorite foods are Italian, so being deprived of that this summer has made my stomach sad. Stopping at this restaurant was AWESOME. I ordered pizza, a Snapple green iced tea, and some lemon gelato. Ahhhhhh so good!

A girl needs her pizza, okay? Especially when said girl really doesn't feel satisfied by eating beans, eggs, and rice all the time... 

We shopped a bit downtown before heading to mass. How strange it was to go to mass with people after doing it alone for the past 4 weeks! At any rate, it was really nice to have company. I'm still not understanding a lot of the mass, but it is just nice to go. Really the only consistent thing in my very inconsistent lifestyle here in Costa Rica. Yes, I consider my lifestyle here inconsistent, compared to the nice, comfortable scheduled life back home. Every day I'm thrown a different curveball... Literally every day. But it is good for character building! Anyways, before I get too off topic...

This church was one of my favorites that I have been to so far here. It was really pretty! Also, as you can kind of tell, the church doesn't have windows. Really, every building in Costa Rica is really open. Even at the big mall, there aren't doors to go in. The lack of doors/windows here is fascinating. It does make for some HOT HOT HOT masses, though. 

Closer....

I really liked the red and yellow. This altar was very beautiful.

Hola, Mary. 

Mass was really great, and it was even better to be able to share it with my family! After mass, we took a bus back down into Manuel Antonio. We were pretty tired, but we stayed up and played cards together! Fun family game night. :) If I'm not mistaken, I creamed everyone, but I may be mistaken... ;)

We had a pretty lazy day on Sunday, which was symbolically represented IN MY FIRST WILD SLOTH SIGHTING!!! It was right outside our hotel, which was really cool! 

Hello, Mr. Sloth! You can see its little head poking out from the side of its body. And, yes, I know what you are thinking... National Geographic has already contacted me about the high quality of my nature photography, and I'm giving up Xavier to go work for them. 

Just kidding.

Fun fact: sloth in Spanish is "perezoso," which also means lazy! Phil taught me that!

On Sunday, I stayed in bed until 8:30--the absolute latest I have stayed in bed since coming to Costa Rica! Ah, so relaxing. After we packed up, we walked down the beach to the center of town and had possibly the best breakfast EVER. So good. 

 Truly, a work of art: a platter of fruit (PAPAYA, pineapple, watermelon, bananas, starfruit, and some cross between a grapefruit and an orange) and some gallo pinto (which I enjoy, despite it being a combination of rice and beans, two things to don't really like all that much), eggs, and plantain!

Alongside the papaya in this breakfast, I had fresh papaya fruit juice Friday at dinner. YUM I LOVE PAPAYA! 

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel & headed back into Quepos to catch buses to our respective towns (San Jose for me and Esparza/Puntarenas for my family). We parted ways, but I will see them this weekend, too! 

Ladies of the family (12yo Lainey, mom, me, and 19yo Andrea) with the church in the background. Photo credit: Dad

All in all, solid weekend! As for work today, it went well. We did zumba, which is getting increasingly more difficult. Alas, I have resigned to the fact that I probably will not come back from Costa Rica super tan and in the best shape of my life. But doing zumba twice a week (and running here and there, but I really don't like running) prevents me from being a total potato while I'm here in San Jose. 

I've been stressing a lot about the internship (what's new?) lately, but I really am trying the best I can, so that offers me a bit of solace. I really want to do well at this job! I am learning so much and growing so much as a person, and I want to be able to help this company as much as I can. My research now is turning more towards healthcare capital investment in China. It is really interesting because it is just another important facet of a healthcare system--one that I know very little about. There is so much to learn!! :O Hopefully I can learn it all in the next five weeks... 

Until next time!

amdg. 

Half way there (?!?!)

Well, almost halfway there, anyways.. After work tomorrow, I will be more or less halfway done with my work at Sanigest. Only five full weeks left! I cannot believe how fast time is going by. Some of my other Fellows are nearing the ends of their trips now, which is totally unreal!! Again, time never ceases to amaze me.

This week at work, like every other week, has had its ups and downs. I was feeling pretty good Monday and Tuesday, but yesterday I was assigned a pretty big project and it is giving me quite a run for my money. It goes back to the Malawi project. We got a bunch of databases with some information about Malawi, and I was asked to organize them. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, you're wrong if you think that. The databases are soooooooo huge (at best 20,000X400) and it is all written in a code specific to the organization that created the database. In order to merge the lists and get something somewhat useful out of the data, I have to use this program called STATA. I think as far as programs go, it is pretty easy to use, but given the short timeline that I have been given, it has NOT been easy, whatsoever. I took a Computer Science class, so I know the general idea behind programs, but no way am I an expert. Unfortunately, this sort of data manipulation calls for someone who knows what they are doing (hint hint, not me!). I am trying my best to learn how to manipulate the data, but it is HARD. Lots of YouTube, lots of Google. I worked through my lunch today trying to make sense of the data and the program, and I need to do some more tonight. They want it by tomorrow, which is kind of scary, but I'm trying the best I can! Unfortunately, the full-time analysts and consultants at my branch of the firm have their hands full with other things, so the brunt of the task falls on me. So. I say my prayers, and keep on keeping on.

Sidenote, despite the difficulties, it is really cool to be using such a program! It's a very marketable skill and there is just something so sweet about typing in a command after 50 or so tries and having it work. It's the little things in life!

This weekend I am headed to Manuel Antonio, a pretty popular Costa Rican destination. I am very excited! More about that on Monday. :)

Here is Manuel Antonio! Not to far from San Jose, only about 4 hours or so. 

As it is more or less the halfway point, I think it is a good time to stop and reflect on what has passed, how I feel about it, and how I feel I have grown as a person. Of course, I can't talk about everything, so I will try to keep it short and simple. Mostly because I need to get back to that darn project.

1. I am very proud of myself for handling everything that I have handled. Which is a lot. I'm the youngest Fellow, and I definitely always felt the youngest, so coming into the trip I was really worried about how I would be able to handle everything. It's been a trip of many "firsts": first time being abroad alone, first time cooking consistently for myself, first internship, first time dealing with prolonged homesickness... And I could go on. It's all happened at once, and, much to my surprise, I've dealt with everything quite well. No big mental breakdowns and I haven't thrown in the towel. Through the challenges, I've stuck it out. And I am proud of myself for that.
2. I told myself I would start living in the moment before I left for the trip, and I think putting myself in that mind-set pre-trip was great. Yes, I still look forward to the weekends, but I am more conscious of my overall attitude about what I am doing, right as I am doing it. It's hard and I still find myself wishing certain times would pass faster, but my improved efforts to "live in the moment" have definitely paid off!
3. I am so grateful for the blessing that Xavier University has been to me. This opportunity would not have been possible without my Xavier family & the opportunities that have been given to me there. When I step back onto campus in August, I might just fall to the ground and start kissing it (I'm only 90% joking...). I will be so grateful for a safe return--even more grateful for this opportunity to grow & become more of the person I am meant to be.  
4. Being a Brueggeman Fellow is HARD. No matter where we are or what we are doing, we have one thing in common: we have to learn to deal with ourselves, on the good days and bad days. To really throw yourself in the fire of seeking self-awareness is truly a daunting thing. I am proud to be a Fellow and I am so proud of all the Fellows, both past and present. We are awesome!

Anyways, that's all I really have time for right now. I need to work on this project! :P Until next time!

amdg. 

Keep the waterfalls coming!

Today has been a pretty good day so far! Work was good. I did a multitude of tasks today, and I felt pretty good about all of them! Awesome for a Monday! Also did zumba, which I quickly canceled out with a hearty pastry & peanut butter M&M's.

The first thing I did today was help brainstorm ideas for the creation of an index to measure the productivity of HIV clinics. I talked a bit about indices in my last post, but to elaborate a bit more, these sorts of "scores" give one number to, more or less, summarize the productivity/efficiency/whatever of an organization. A good example is the social progress index. Fun fact: the 2015 report places Costa Rica ranked at #28 and the US at #16, both in the category of "high social progress." #1 is Norway. Click on the link for more info!

I've been looking at a lot of indices throughout the duration of my work as a Brueggeman Fellow. They are pretty useful, but indices have a lot of shortcomings and limitations, too. For instance, consider the social progress index. While the US is overall ranked #16, I am willing to bet there are communities that would have a score as high as or higher than the #1 ranked Norway. On the other hand, there are certainly communities that wouldn't even make the top 100. So, yes, US is #16, but you shouldn't expect that to be a complete, across the board score for every part of the country. Yes, indices are useful, but like any sort of summary, you won't get all the details.

Anyways, what we are trying to do is a little simpler than that (obviously, if I am being asked to brainstorm--I'm just a mathematics minor, after all. :p). I really liked this task because it allowed me to do some critical, math-y thinking, and thinking applied to health, at that! So cool when my interests collide. I'm not sure if what I came up with was very good, but it basically involved a summation of ratios juxtaposing the outputs and inputs of different components of an HIV program (I tried to use big words in that sentence to make it seem more impressive.. I don't think it worked). Basic, yes. But sometimes keeping it simple is all you need in life, right? RIGHT.

Today I also helped edit a proposal for another project. The analysts and consultants here are really amazing, especially considering the fact that many of them are required to work in English, a second language for many. Their English is all very impressive, but inevitably there will be some issues when it comes to grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. In order to help polish the report, I was just asked to do a sweep through to make sure that the English was okay. It was cool to read through the proposal and get a sense of this organization's approach to assignments they want to take on. It is some pretty cool stuff!

I am also continuing to work on the Dominican Republic project. That is also pretty cool. More on that in another post. I like this project because I have been on board for the whole thing, and it is night to see it as it grows.

Also, in other news, I am feeling much better today. Thankfully. I think I just had a little bug in my system, but I rested a bit more this weekend. Also, it is so hot on the Pacific Coast that I might have just sweat it out. :p But I am very grateful to be feeling a bit better.

Of course, I had another AMAZING weekend. This time I was in Montezuma. Here is the map:

Last weekend I was in Playa del Coco which was a bit more north, closer to Nicaragua. 

It was about a 2.5 hour bus ride to Puntarenas, a 1.5 hour ferry ride, then another 1 hour on a bus, and then another 20 minutes on a bus. A lot of moving around! One of the AMAZING parts of the ferry was watching the sunset.

STUNNING, the picture really doesn't do it justice

Faye had been here before and just raved about it--all of her positive reviews were definitely true! We were in a remote town in the middle of the jungle on the ocean. It was the most stereotypical beach town, too! Loved it. We stayed at an amazing hostel called "Luz en el Cielo." Besides no air-conditioning, it was great! Literally in the middle of the jungle. In the morning and throughout the day, we could hear howler monkeys, and we got to see some, too.

Little monkey, monkeyin' around in the jungle

On Saturday, we hiked to some local waterfalls. It was another crazy hike, but nothing like Cerro Chato from a few weeks back (wait.. I have been here a few weeks?!?). The tough thing about this hike was that it was SO HOT. I don't think I have sweat so much in my entire life, holy cow. 

You can't really tell in this picture, but it was up a jagged, rocky stream. It was pretty tough! 

Once we got to the waterfall, it was totally worth it. There were three levels to the waterfall, so the following pictures correspond to the first level:

This one was about 50 feet tall--the biggest one. 

As you can kind of tell, the water was pretty dark and brown. Safe to swim in (I haven't gotten sick... yet...). However, if Amanda's nightmares take place in creepy cemeteries, mine take place in deep, dark pools, in which some horrifying water creature grabs my legs and pulls me down into the depths of the water. Swimming in dark, deep water totally freaks me out, but I fought my fear and actually had a really good time! Fun fact: I am not as good at treading water as I thought. 

You can't really tell, but that little person jumping off the rocks is me. It doesn't look quite as impressive as it actually felt. That rock was about 10 feet above the water. The climb up the rock was kind of a challenge, too. 

The locals like to climb up the falls and jump off the top.. No gracias. I'm not that crazy. You can't really see well, but if you look hard, you can see another man in the upper righthand corner of the photo. 

After hanging out at the first level, we did another crazy climb to the second & third levels of the falls. This is where the REAL fun begins! There was a 30 foot waterfall that you could jump off.. AND I DID IT!!! :O It was crazy! Yes, 30 feet doesn't sound like much, but it was pretty adventuresome. The fall hurt, too. My feet hit the water first, but my backside caught it at a strange angle, and let's just say it hurts to sit today. :P 

Part of the crazy hike down

Me gathering my thoughts before I plunge down the waterfall

To my great dismay, I can't figure out how to upload videos to this blog, but I will try to post the video of me jumping off the waterfall on Facebook! It might be small enough for email, too. 

This is the point I jumped from... It was pretty far! Also, my foot. 

Besides the waterfall, we spent a bit of time at the beach, which was nice. I LOVE the Pacific Ocean. Yes, I have only been twice, but it has been really lovely. So warm!

Pretty pretty pretty! Check out the cool sand!

Now, Spanish mass round FOUR! Have I really been here for four weekends? The mass went well. I had to go to the town over, which was an adventure, but I made it there and back safely--by the grace of God, really. It was super hot during the mass because they actually had the mass on a basketball court outside due to construction. It is still really hard to understand, but, again, every week I am getting better! Also, everyone knew the music again without song sheets.. 

Haha, yes, plastic chairs. But Jesus is Jesus, plastic chairs or a pews made of gold.

Hello, Mary!

Well, that's all for now! Off to cook dinner, which I am totally stealing Emily's grilled cheese idea--so excited to try it! Also, Criminal Minds is on TV tonight, in Spanish. And the woman who owns my hostel LOVES it. Life is good and I am blessed. :D

amdg. 

TGIF!

¡Hola!

Quick blog post about the week before I head back to the beach ( <3 <3 <3). This weekend I am going to Montezuma, also in Guanacaste like Playa del Coco, but more south.

Every day brings its challenges, but also the reward of becoming more and more accustomed to this work and research. I feel like my feet are more firmly planted on the ground, which is great (only took me almost half the trip ;P). Even when I don't know how to do something, I have a bit more confidence in my ability to do the work I need to do.

This week we did a lot of work on the Malawi lit review which should be, fingers crossed, completely finished! Yay! I feel better now because I have contributed more, so my name on the World Bank document is worth more than the little I had contributed last week. :P I really enjoyed the research with that. Besides looking at the community-based interventions, I also did a bit of a comprehensive analysis of several studies regarding the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (the combination of 3+ antiretroviral drugs to combat the progression of HIV). It is by no means whatsoever a cure to HIV, but it is truly vital for any HIV-positive individual to enhance his or her health as much as possible. There are a lot of challenges to providing ART to HIV-positive individuals, including money, transportation to clinics, inadequate counseling, and limited access to food. The report I read was specifically talking about some rural communities in Africa, but these aren't uncommon problems in the US, either. The following link provides some stories of HIV-positive US citizens and how the ACA affected their HIV care:

The ACA and People with HIV: Profiles from the Field

The tricky thing with HIV is that it invites a lot of other complications--if you read the brief above, you saw that a lot of the interviewees weren't JUST struggling with HIV, but a multitude of other really horrible (and horribly expensive, for that matter) conditions. Reading stories like these are a reminder of the good & the bad of the ACA: the good being that a lot more people have access to healthcare because of expanded coverage, and the bad being the gaps that still exist, plus the seemingly never-ending organizational issues.

Wednesday was a long, long day. I was given an assignment regarding the data analysis of another HIV project in Myanmar a little bit before I left work. My boss wanted it by 10:00pm San Jose time, so I started it around 7:00, thinking I would be fine (she had told me it would only take an hour). Unfortunately, a lot of the data was organized in a very strange way, and some of the calculations I needed had not been completed. I had a Skype call with my boss and we hammered out some of the issues, but because of those issues the assignment took about 4.5 hours instead of 1. :p I went to bed around midnight, which is actually pretty impressive for me here in Costa Rica. On work nights, I am normally ready for sleep around 9:00 pm. This is in part due to the fact that the sun rises here around 5:30 am, and I am a really light sleeper. :p

Thursday was a bit slower, as most of the busy work had been completed Monday-Wednesday. I spent the morning looking up composite indices to measure health production. It was really challenging because these indices require some pretty complicated algorithms; I didn't understand a lot of it, but it seemed pretty interesting. I won't bother trying to summarize it here because I still don't really have a good understanding. I had a lot of fun last night; I went out to dinner with Faye, Alex, and Eve to celebrate Eve's last week in San Jose. She returns to France tomorrow. We had some good casado AND finally tres leches cake. Mmmmm!!

In not-so-good news, I've been feeling kind of weird lately (physically, not emotionally--well, I am always a little emotionally weird here, but nothing out of the ordinary :p). I woke up last night shivering like crazy with cold sweats, even though, to the touch, I was very, very warm--possibly fevered. I've been struggling with headaches the past couple of days. I took some medicine so it isn't quite as bad right now. I've been quite fatigued and a little achy, too, but I think that might just be from zumba. :p LOL, sooooo let's just hope I'm a little dehydrated or sleepy or something not too serious. :P The last thing I need right now is to be sick! But, I am equipped with a full first-aid kit and several copies of my health insurance card and claims forms--in the event that I do fall a bit ill, I am prepared! But here's to hoping I stay healthy.

Alright, off to the beach! Another weekend of sun & relaxation & hopefully more sleep! ¡Hasta luego, amigos!

Has it really been two weeks?!

Hello! I am two weeks into my Brueggeman trip--shocking! The rate at which time passes never ceases to amaze me.

Work continues to be a huge challenge, but if it weren't a challenge, would it be worth it? Probably not! :) So, while it is hard, I am very grateful for the challenges that have been presented to me. Also, did zumba today, and that was fun!

I did some really interesting research today at work. For the World Bank, we are working on a (never-ending, may I add) literature review on the HIV/AIDS situation in Malawi and what can be done to help the epidemic (the quickest summary I could possibly give). I haven't been on board long, so I am just helping out with the tail end of the lit review. I think I may have mentioned this in another post.. Oh, well. Anyways, today I did a lot of research on community-based interventions for HIV (really, it is a method that can be applied to anything, but I was looking specifically at its application to the HIV situation in Malawi). It was really interesting! So, as you can probably tell from the name, community-based interventions are--wait for it--based on individual community needs! :O I'm so insightful.

Kidding aside, I really believe this kind of approach is truly vital when it comes to providing care. Obviously, every community has different needs and characteristics--the same approach to health in Cincinnati isn't going to work as well if it was applied in Honolulu, for example. My research today reminded me a lot of some organizations I have had the privilege of stumbling upon while at Xavier. Two specifically come to mind. The first, Closing the Health Gap, aims to eliminate racial and health disparities in Cincinnati. For those of you who aren't really familiar with the overall health of Cincinnati, just be aware MANY problems exist. For instance, infant mortality in Cincinnati and Hamilton county are nearly double the rates of the rest of the country. And, to illustrate the horrific disparities that exist in our community, infant mortality among live births to white mother is approximately 7.5/1000--among live births to black mothers, it is around 17.8/1000 (Cincinnati Children's, as of 2010--I am sure there are more updated stats out there, but as I research all day at work, I think I will take a break from that for now). Crazy, right?? This is why the delivery of healthcare is so important--and not just any healthcare, but care designed to fit a community's specific and unique needs! Allow me to digress for a moment--one of the other Fellows, Tess Petrozzi, is doing some really incredible work in New Zealand with infant mortality & midwifery systems. Her trip is based a lot upon another cool organization in Cincy, Healthy Moms and Babes, which also aims to help with the health problems in Cincy. I'm speaking for Tess, so I hope I represented her correctly. :)

Anyways, back to Closing the Health Gap--As a Health Services major, we have a lot of different guest speakers come into our classes. It is a really cool networking tool and it helps us explore different careers in the healthcare industry. From my ~1.5 years experience as this major, a majority of the guest speakers are business-related; don't get me wrong, it is really interesting, but a lot of the times I am not really inspired by that aspect of healthcare. Someone is meant to be in charge of billing and revenue streams, but that someone probably isn't me. :p One day during Fall 2014, two women from Closing the Health Gap came in, and it was a breath of fresh air!! It was really interesting to hear about how they are trying to improve the health in Cincinnati in a hands-on way, one that reflects a lot of what I learned about from my research today on community-based interventions.

Crossroad Health Center is another interesting organization I am across this past spring semester. In similar ways to Closing the Health Gap, Crossroad Health Center's mission is to provide accessible, affordable, COMMUNITY-BASED primary health care services and mental health counseling to the residents of OTR and surrounding Cincinnati communities (that mission statement is, more or less, copy & pasted from their website). The husband & wife that started the clinic gave a talk to the pre-med society (no, I am not pre-med, I just attended because that is what I do for fun!), and it was truly inspiring. I took really detailed notes, but I left them back at home, so I can't really go into too much detail about the presentation. Basically, they provide care to the needy population of OTR in Cincinnati. Also, I was also amazed because the mission of the organization is rooted deeply in faith! It is quite inspiring to me. I would actually really love to get an internship here in the fall; they mostly hire on pre-med kids, but I think if I plead my case, I may have a shot! Prayers, please. :)

These sort of organizations, in my humble opinion, are truly vital for providing the healthcare that a community needs. For those of you interested, here are the links to the websites of the organizations (I don't think they would mind if I shared!):

Closing the Heath Gap
Crossroad Health Center

Whether it be for a community in Malawi struggling with HIV or Cincinnati, Ohio, community-based interventions offer a lot of great things for the provision of healthcare. A challenge is implementing such interventions, especially on a state or federal level. Could the US ever do that? Hmm, I'm not sure, because that would mean that healthcare isn't just about money.. ;) Oops, said too much!

I would like to learn more about these kind of approaches to healthcare; what I have blogged about thus far is based on just a little bit of research that I did today! I will work on it some more tomorrow before I am, no doubt, given many more assignments to complete. :)

Well, that was work for today! I am sure the rest of the week will keep me on my toes & teach me many, many new things. :)

As for my weekend, I had a really wonderful trip to Playa del Coco. It was really beautiful! My first time to the Pacific Ocean! :) I've been very blessed to make friends. I am truly thankful they have welcomed me into the group. They are so nice and friendly.. and tons of fun! :) Which is good for me, because we all know how much fun I normally have. :P We have had a lot of fun together, and I am just very happy to have made friends.. It makes the experience all the more enjoyable. :)

To give you some perspective.. I live in San Jose. It was about a 5 hour bus ride to Playa del Coco. 

First touch of the Pacific Ocean! :) 

Breakfast and a view! And my new true love.. PAPAYA! So good! Also very happy to have green tea, my other true love. <3

One of my favorite photos from the weekend--so beautiful! The water was really warm, which was great. 

Hello!

Costa Rican beach sunsets >>>

Spanish mass: Round Three!

This mass was a little strange--the music was like very creepy, weird carnival music. I cannot make that up! Not a huge fan. Besides that, it was a great mass! Good news, I am understanding more and more each time around. I can ALMOST follow along with the "Our Father." Homilies are still hard, but I figure as long as I have a basic understanding, it is fine. Reading the selected readings beforehand also helps. Also, I have some interesting thoughts on masses:

1. There are no hymnals, song booklets, nada, but somehow, EVERYBODY always knows every song and sings along. So, either there is some serious work of the Holy Spirit going on in the music liturgy in Costa Rica, or they sing the same 3 songs. I will research further. 

2. At the sign of peace, all the little kids in the church go up and shake the priest's hand--this has happened at all three masses I have attended so far in Costa Rica. I like it a lot, and it probably helps the children develop a healthy perspective/relationship of the pastoral leadership of the church. #vocationproblems #itsthelittlethingsthatcount #getonboardchurchofamerica

I do not believe this church had a name. I scoured the internet, and all I could find was "the bright green church." So, La Parroquia de La Iglesia Verde Brilliante is what I am naming it

Up close & personal! I always feel kind of strange taking pictures of churches, but I guess if I'm going to take pictures of anything, churches aren't that bad.

They love their Divine Mercy here! I've seen it on buses and trucks, even! Imagine that in the US! :O

They also love Mary. She is on a lot of buses, trucks, and cars.

That's all for now, folks! Thanks for reading! 

amdg.