Recreation Days: January 12th and 13th

Our first recreation day was to Baldi Hot Springs after a small hiccup with our transportation. Our first view on our way to the hot springs was the Arenal Volcano. This was the first trip in all three years where the top of the volcano was able to be seen. We arrived around 1:00, had a quick lunch, and dove right into the hot springs. We were all suprised when we saw that the temperature of the water was 104 degrees, and the cooler pools were still 70 degrees. We enjoyed the afternoon swimming around and going on the waterslides. Some of us questioned the legality of the waterslides as they were vey fast. The finished the day with a nice buffet dinner at the Hot Springs.


Our second recreation day was to Manuel Antonio National Park. Once we arrived we had a 20 minute walk to the beach. Throughout the walk, we enjoyed looking for wildlife, where we saw sloths and monkeys. The view when we got to the beach was magnificent. Most of us jumped right into the water and thought it would be much cooler than it really was, as most of us are used to the Atlantic Ocean. During our swim, a few of us were stung by what we think was a jellyfish. We stayed in the water for a few hours, only getting out for lunch and dinner. Athough a lot of suncreen was used, a lot still got burned due to being closer to the sun at the equator. After we left Manuel Antonio, we drove to Jaco Beach where we enjoyed the sunset and a nice buffet dinner. Once we got  back to the hotel, some us decided to pack up our things so that we would be ready to go to the airport in the morning.


D.J., Adrienne, Kim, Annick

House Visits and Sharing with the Community: January 8th

Today we went up into the mountains to the community of Dulce Nombre. We were told the community would be worse off than the houses we saw in the days before, but most of the houses were very clean with running water and electricity. The houses were permanent structures built into the mountain sides. We gave out tickets to the members who wanted to see the doctors, and we will do their assessments tomorrow when they come into the clinic. We all feel much more comfortable since we have already done this twice now. Throughout our house visits, our team leader Marta shared with us about the coffee plants and the coffee farms. She described how they pick out the beans, how they dry them out, and toast them. Marta picked a few ready beans for us to see and smell, and they smelled sweet.

During our lunch break, a few of us played our own version of volleyball in the school gym. We also met the school dog who wanders around. After our homemade lunch from the community and Professor Cote’s help, we set up our supplies for "giving to the community". This included a tattoo salon, hair salon, finger nail painting, coloring, and soccer with Danny. We had about a dozen people from the community come with their children for the fun. We all had a great time, and the best part was seeing the pure happiness in the children while they enjoyed these activities. The children and families were kind enough to let most of us take pictures with them. Before dinner, we were given a tour around Alejuela where we were able to go into one of their churches and learn about the history of the city. We then enjoyed dinner at a Peruvian restaurant.


Kim, D.J., Annick, Adrienne

House Visits and Clinc Time: January 5th, 6th, and 7th

The first day of clinical was spent going house to house assessing the people and their environment, and asking if anyone was sick and needed to see the doctors in the clinic during the next two days. Many of the houses were made from metal paneling and wood. Many of the houses had dirt flooring or chunks of cement foundation. The houses were on top of each other, and multiple people live in the homes with one to two rooms. We handed out tickets to families that needed to see the doctors at the clinic. Not all, but most of the people who had tickets came to the clinic the next two days where we triaged them for the doctors’ assessment and diagnosis. The clinic isn’t the type of clinic we would see in the United States. It was a small, one room church that we turned into four triage rooms and a small procedure room with curtains. We met some very kind and appreciative community members. Although there is a hospital down the road, many of the community members don’t have insurance or the means to get to the hospital or other clinics for care. With us being here, they were able to get some of the care they needed. During our free time during the days at the clinic, we spent our time outside trying to talk with the locals in Spanish and English, although the language barrier was apparent. After the first clinic day, we went out for ice cream since it had been a very hot day in the small room. Our days at the clinic were finished with dinner out in the town and then learning some Costa Rican dances.


Adrienne, Annick, D.J, and Kim

Pre-departure and Day 1: January 3rd and 4th

For most of us students, this trip was our first time out of the country for this kind of experience. We aren’t sure what to expect, but we are excited to visit the beautiful country of Costa Rica and help the people in need. Our adventure began a day before our take-off date since most of us had to plan for travel since we didn’t live near the airport. Some of us had to travel from the border of Canada, whereas some only had to travel five minutes. The next move was to take off. Our first flight was to Houston, Texas. Some of us were able to sleep through the entire flight, while some of us stayed up. Kim slept through the entire flight, while DJ and Annick slept for a little bit. This was my first flight, so I didn’t sleep much.

Our next flight was from Houston to San Jose, Costa Rica where we were all ready to be done flying. Each flight was about four hours long, which made for a long day of sitting. As nurses we aren’t used to that! From the airport we took a small shuttle to our hotel. The hotel wasn’t what we expected, but we have all adjusted well and are enjoying our time together. Our day ended with a beautiful sunset and a nice Costa Rican meal.


Annick, Adrienne, Kim, D.J.