weekend and today

Saturday

Saturday was a good day. I woke up early and my host mother decided to try again to take me up into the mountains so that I could see out toward the ocean! And QUE DICHA - we were able to see it!!! It was breathtaking to be able to see out over the ocean and see the islands and the Nicoya Peninsula. After riding up through the mountains we went to my aunt's house in San Pedro. She and her husband have a BEAUTIFUL home and property there in the mountains and you can see the ocean from there as well. Luckily we were able to see it, and she showed me some INCREDIBLE fotos of sunsets there. Their home was beautiful and open inside. I wish I knew how to describe the floor plan! It was open with a big tall ceiling, and the living room area and kitchen were continuous, with lots of doors opening to the big back porch they had. And if you walked up a series of stairs you looked out over the kitchen and living room and the rooms were off of that little walkway. Anyway she offered to call us if it was clearer in the afternoon so that we could see it better. My padres then offered for me to continue on the journey with them to Palmares so that they could pay a bill for something. It was the first time I had been into Palmares. It's a small town, much smaller than San Ramon, but it is clean and safe and lovely! I liked it a lot. There are huge fiestas there in January. People come from all over the country (and world) to take part. There are lots of concerts and music and artsy things. My mom and I had icees that were WAY too sweet, but I ate it all because she paid for it. We then ventured back to San Ramon. It was quite an adventure, but we were able to talk a lot and I enjoyed the time with them. We then came home and went to get AM from work and then went to eat lunch. It was scrumptious. Afterwards we came back and then I went to Delicias for a while to do some work. I came home to shower and get ready to go see LUNA NUEVA with mis amigos and my brother and sister!!! It was crowded when we got there so we had to separate but AM and I chatted and ooed and aaahed the whole movie! It was good, but the book is way better. Afterwards, my brother and sister went home and the gringos went out for a while. We met up with the ticos there. I got to salsa some...it was lots of fun! We danced at Night Fever, hung out outside to cool off a bit, then went to another spot for a bit to hang out some more. After a while we all went home.

SUNDAY

Got up, ate breakfast, and got to work. I got some work done in the morning and stayed at home till after lunch. After we ate, I went to meet some gringo amigos at Delicias to get some work done. I did some work on my internship journal but unfortunately the internet wasn't working so I couldn't really do anything else. I offered for TJ and MIF to come to my house to use the internet. So we were walking down the street toward my house when I hear some people yelling and a car horn. We turn around and its Helbert and Diana and some other amigos in her car! They asked us where we were going and I told them that we were going to my house to do work. They told us to get in, that they would take us home. Well, they didn't. We then proceeded for 3 1/2 hours to be spontaneous. Helbert drove (like a maniac, may I add) through the mountains to a lookout point that was probably the most stunning view of ANYTHING I have seen since being in Costa Rica. It was beautiful there! We met a campesino...not sure what the English word is for this, but basically someone who works on the farm in CR. He was kind and talked to us for over an hour. We enjoyed the views and each other's company. Afterward we drove back around and stopped at Fory Fay, a great spot here, to try something that Helbert wanted us to try. It was ceviche mixed in a bag of dorito-like chips. Surprisingly it was scrumptious! Then we drove back through Palmares, continuing on to San Ramon. We stopped for 15 minutes to look out over San Ramon, up at the starts, and have a dance party on the side of the road. It was fun and BEAUTIFUL! FINALLY we made it back to town and Helbert dropped us all off at our homes. I did some more work and waited for my neighbor tico friend to get home, and then we headed out to the centro to meet everyone for a while. We hung out, then went and hung out outside for a while, then went back to where we started. We had a great time talking and dancing and just hanging out together. SC didn't have her keys to get into her house (she left them with CD) and when we went to her house no one answered the doorbell. Entonses ella came with me to my house and I let her sleep in my bed and I slept on the couch. I actually slept well. My dad came in the room with a flashlight in my face saying that the sensor thing in their had gone off and was confused and so I explained what happened to him and he was fine with it.

MONDAY

Today I had to wake up early to get ready to go to the hospital for the last time. The shower water was cold, a first in my home here, but it woke me up. I got ready quickly and then my dad dropped me off at the hospital. I met Claudia there and the doctors were out taking care of an emergency so we walked around the hospital so that I could take some pictures (I will post them soon!). It was interesting. They have a lot of outdoor gardens there, which I'm sure is great for the patients to enjoy. Anyway, they came looking for us, so we went into the Director's office to take more fotos which I will be posting soon, probably once I get back home and have time, of him presenting me with a certificate for all the work I did! We then all sat down together, Claudia, the director, other doctors and myself and had cafecito and cookies, and talked a while. Claudia commented on the relationship she hoped to create between Clemson and the hospital, saying that the public health department could collaborate with the hospital and vice versa. El Director said that he would love to come to SC to visit Hilton Head to play golf and then go to a football game as part of his weekend activities if he were to come to Clemson to talk with people there. I am going to miss them all a lot. They were so kind to me!

I then went back to my house and went to the U to do some work, which I did until 1230 or so. Then I came home and ate lunch with the fam and did a bit of studying after lunch. At 2 my sister and I went out toward the centro. She wanted to develop a picture of us and put it in a frame, and I wanted to develop some too. We went to the developing place first, then to the store to get her a frame, then to her school to get her university information, and then to Aroma's Cafe to eat a snack! We talked a lot and I really enjoyed the time that I spent with her. I really feel like she is like my little sister and I am going to miss her! She had to go to her grandmother's house after that, and so I went back home and got my things to go to school to work for a while. I worked until 630 or so and then came home and did some work and skyped with mom. Around 830 I went to KA's to walk to Gerardo's apartment. He made food for all of us and so we all hung out together and talked and enjoyed each other's company. It was a lot of fun. I got back later than I expected but have been doing work since then and just wanted to take some time to blog before I forgot everything that I did.

I come home on Friday. I won't be able to start packing until Wednesday. I have 2 tests and a paper due tomorrow, and then a 20 minute Spanish presentation and 5 page Spanish paper due Wednesday on health care in Central America. Pray for me! We're almost there.