just posting directly from an email...

So today was awesome! We asked to check out the OR and got to scrub in to see a fallopian sterilization surgery and hysterectomy! That would definitely not have been that easy in the States haha. We've also given back two ultrasonic pocket dopplers and a centrifuge that now work. Suh-weet! And then after work, Shannon, my hospital partner, and I ran halfway to the next town and back and then joined the gym and got our butts kicked by the owner, this bizarrely buff old woman. I always have the best feelings after seeing lots of blood and sweat. xP

We went to Granada this weekend and got to see plenty of beautiful old churches and crazy street acts. There were these amazingly talented break-dancers and fire handlers, clowns and people on stilts. Even though there was a cool European vibe, adding the abundance of gringos (n. 1. foreigner. 2. gibberish.) and Spanish architecture made the whole place seem so.. fake, almost like Epcot in Disneyworld, if you’ve ever been. I felt like I got to get back in touch with the real Nicaragua kayaking (fun!) on Lake Granada, navigating through the narrow channels and thick water forestry of some of the 265(!) islands. The King of Spain is apparently selling one of them.. wouldn’t it be cool to sign a contract with the KING? :o

I gotta say that the place that we stayed at only enhanced the whole experience haha - we ended up staying in a random room in the back of a bar! It had 5 bunk beds, perfect for the 9 of us. And it was $3 each. score! One of the hostels we talked to was completely booked, so they just phoned this place and they magically opened up the back for us. With Jared's lock, everything was safe for the night woot!

I’m still so miffed by my experience at the big market we went to before Granada though. The salesman said “treinta” for this colorful headband I wanted, but when I gave him 40 expecting change, he said 20 more, “tres dolares.” Flustered and without thinking much, I asked if 50 was ok, and he turned to look at his wife, who nodded. I gave him ten more and walked away with an uneasy feeling. I then realized I’d gotten played with the confused tourist language card – darnit!! I’ve decided that I can’t stand salespeople. You can’t trust anyone, like someone who says that a rival hotel is not in business anymore. And I’ve even heard of vendors throwing candy and trinkets at my friends while they’re at traffic stops, expecting them to pay for the stuff!?

Basically, dishonesty peeves me, and so does overbearing persistence. Adding the countless beggars that I must turn down, the guys that yell things because of my race and gender, and of course the daily challenges at the hospital results in a hardened, toughened Rita. Begging is a hard topic. My first reaction is to ignore, I don’t know why. It’s easier to turn down the people that look competent enough to work, but in terms of kids, it’s a shame to perpetuate the cycle of dependency. I feel pity yet am humiliated for the kid who asks for a piece of my hamburger. I don’t know, maybe it’s best to give with discretion, and be sure to ask for their names so we can give more through prayer.

don't say goodbye, 'cause I don't really want to hear those words tonight

This is the latest I've stayed up this past month. I don't even care anymore, today's our last day of schooling, of chilling in Costa Rica with the whole gang. :/ I'm going to miss everyone, especially my housemates and host family. Gladys' party tonight was a great way to top things off with everyone, and the (party)bus ride back was epic, all of us just belting out great American oldies along with the radio. Haven't laughed that hard in a while (oh! oh! oh! oh!). I'm excited about Shannon and my hospital assignment in Nicaragua though - this is what we signed up for, this is what we're here for! Can't help but feel a bit nervous though, even with the status reports and organization, still don't completely know what to expect. Last weekend pics and new country update when I get there! Until then, pura vida forever, man.

love tree children, unite!!

I was definitely up for making our third weekend here more action-packed than walking around looking for turtles in the dark (though admittedly that was an experience itself), so I decided to go zip-lining at Monte Verde! The 5-hour bus ride was a bit ridiculous. A bunch of us ended up standing or squeezing 3 people into 2 seats because the company had sold way too many tickets (a common practice here, even though it is illegal to stand on a bus?). The roads just got narrower and more inclined as we climbed up; it was so nerve-racking sitting helplessly as the bus stalled all the way up, up, eventually up above the clouds! When we finally got into town, we were bombarded by people hawking their hotels, from only $5-10 a night. Chad found a really awesome hostel for us to stay at: the place was just so homey, with its Christmas lights, dogs and cats, free internet and free coffee/tea.

Our room had a loft for 2 (or here, 6!) people. Que divertido!

It started raining, so we scrapped the horseback riding idea and asked our hotel manager for suggestions about cool things to see, and he gave us directions through the nearby cloud forest to a “tall tree” that was apparently good to climb. I originally imagined climbing maybe a good two, three stories up, but when we finally found the tree, I realized we'd be able to climb all the way up, to the top of the forest: the tree was literally 30m (about 100 feet!) high!! Part of the tree was made up of a honeycomb-like formation of branches that coincided into a tunnel (a stangler fig most likely), so it was like a ladder, basically! The experience was definitely one of the coolest, most offbeat things I've done in my life.

The Tree! This is Shannon trying to climb the outside of the tree before we noticed the tunnel on the inside.

We all climbed at once, single file with me leading the way to the top... I was so terrified of snakes and spiders and stuff hiding in the cracks, but was like hey, I probably won't come back, so all the way baby!!



Hannah and the White Light - it got pretty cramped towards the end!

The view from an opening towards the top. Yujing, John, and Didi sang/beatboxed "In the Jungle" up here. The acoustics were great!!

The wreakage that was my pants post-climb. xD

Super-excited and giddy after the climb!

The next day, we went to Selvatura Park to zip-line and tarzan swing! That was a lot of fun and absolutely exhilarating flying through and above the trees...

The last zipline was especially crazy, a scenic zip across two mountains, so long it required two people!

Geared up yo -

To top off the excitement, we went to Santa Elena Reserve for a leisurely stroll along a beautiful path through the rainforest. Awesome weekend!! :]

mmmmmmanzanas

Just made apple crumb dessert topped w/vanilla ice cream for our host family!! I couldn’t find a pie crust so I just baked the insides hehe. Hannah made Toad in the Hole (.. en el hueco!) and Sharon cheese over brocolli at the same time, so it was pretty hectic and fun in the kitchen. :D I’ve never made anything from scratch before, but minus the crumb burns haha, it turned out well, so yay! Vera said she’s learned a lot from watching us, mainly that certain things seem to go well together - brocolli tastes so much better with cheese, who knew? I translated the recipe I found online for Vera since everyone seemed to like it so much, and it’s just better to teach a man how to fish instead of just giving him a fish. You knoww. :]

“Give me your FACE!!”

One of the movie's inspiring messages: Women are to be dragged around and are basically useless, BBB - boobs before brains. Wow, thanks Michael Bay!

Wednesdays are 1000c ($1.75!) movie nights, so a bunch of us decided to go see the new Transformers movie. The action was fun and well-done, but the rest was just corny dialogue and trashy rubbish imho. What’s interesting is how Americans are so full of themselves. The only possible options to “save the world” were to call the American troops, or ask the autobots for help. The two Jordanian helicopters that tried to help got a grand total of 2 minutes screen time before they were shot down, while the American fighter planes swooped in and saved the day, nuking everything in their paths. And don’t even get me started on “subtle” American flag
and product placements. Physical distance and exposure to the thoughts of the locals and the international EWH kids have made me more detached and aware of what people think of us, representatives of the rock 'n rolling USA: arrogant, rich, nosy, irreligious, world police. But provider of much-appreciated entertainment (RIP Michael Jackson). Anyways, I hope my sensitivity and humility will continually increase as the weeks roll by.

Only one more weekend before we’re sent to our hospitals in Nicaragua and Honduras! We're crossing our fingers that the political environment in Honduras will have settled by then – otherwise, the people assigned there may just be sent home, or possibly reassigned to our hospitals in Nicaragua, which I wouldn’t mind. I heard that the DukeEngage EWB kids in Honduras can’t leave the country right now though, woa! I wouldn’t mind not being able to leave Costa Rica, honestly. Anyways, I can’t believe President Obama and so many other countries are supporting Zelaya. Sure, he technically didn’t complete the last 5 months of term, which violates the democratic sentiment, but if he’d stayed, I’m pretty sure he would’ve been able to successfully change the constitution and give himself more terms in office – read: dictatorship. In fact, it seems like the majority of Hondurans don't even consider Zelaya's removal as a coup, and are instead proud that they're the first Latin American country to stand up against a tyrannical leader who's tried to topple democracy and peace in their country. The whole thing makes me wonder when it comes down to it, does the checks and balances system really work? If one group is stronger than another, if one branch can veto another can veto another can.. really, who has the final say? Shouldn’t government ultimately operate according to the people, to the majority consent, without the interference of other nations? Anyways, hoping that Zelari’s return on Saturday will be peaceful and smooth.

Tortuguero

First of all, thank you for all your prayers and concern for my safety here in Costa Rica! I just wanted to reassure you that no, I'm not crazy, I would've indeed acted differently had I known there was a gun involved, whether or not it was real and loaded. I've asked my host family to get rid of the jacket I robbed from the robber (hah!), so they're planning to donate it (though I have nightmares that the robber will see some poor homeless guy wearing it and attack him. ahh!). In any case, I'm pretty amused by my new status as "badass" amongst the EWH kids ("So how many people have you kill today, Rita?") haha. I praise God that He's guided and protected me thus far, and have been drawing energy from Him to keep pushing, keep from burning out during this intense month. Anyways, on to what happened after that lovely morning!

Our huge group trip to Tortuguero the first weekend was a good way to start our explorations of what lay beyond San Jose. Everything was planned out, down to when we took bathroom breaks and where we ate lunch. It was convenient, but sometimes I'd feel forced to participate and pay when I really didn't want to - that was frustrating. Our main tour guide Tom also had a bad habit of making up facts, and even felt compelled to make a disclaimer that everything he said was questionable ("What is truth? It's relative, it's what you believe in your heart.") Regardless, I had fun. Our hotel cabins were literally in the middle of the rainforest, a place accessible only by a 1 hour boat ride or by air, and featured a huge turtle-shaped pool that we ended up spending a majority of our time frolicking in.


Our itenerary included a brief stop at the Del Monte plantation/factory on the way to Tortuguero. Tom reassured us that the workers didn't mind pictures and even wanted the publicity, but I don't know, I still felt like there was something a bit zoo-like, something degrading about tourists continually passing through, watching and documenting a worker's every move on camera. Anyways, here they are thoroughly washing the latex-like substance off of the bananas so people don't get allergic reactions to them and everyone can enjoy their deliciousness!! mmmm.



Later that night, we payed for an attempt to see nesting green turtles and leatherbacks, which involved walking on the beach for two and a half hours. It was completely dark minus the occasional flash of lightning or stars peaking out from a brief parting of clouds - the perfect atmosphere for getting lost in one's thoughts. We were deathly quiet and intent the first half, but when we realized that the nesting season was too off, we blathered on on the way back and scared away anymore potential encounters haha. This is part of the stretch of 20 miles of black beach that we walked along. The black sand formed as a result of the interaction between the lava from the volcanoes of Costa Rica and the Carribean Sea - que chiva!


Some pics of the diverse wildlife we saw that weekend-



Our other tour guide Alex was brave/cool/crazy enough to grab a wild snake out of the bushes and show it to us. I much preferred the hike along the rainforest and beach boundary to the boat tours, which were more boring imho (bird! bird! bird. bird.. monkey!! bird. lizard. camen!! bird.)



Neat fuzzy pine-tree-like catipillar on the beach.



monkeys!!


wiiiiild EWHers! ;]

pics courtesy of Hannah and Didi, thanks! was wary of bringing my own cam that weekend haha.