Don't worry, it's dormant

It has been a long week. For most of us, the "vacation" period has kind of worn off and we are
 now experiencing full-on culture shock. We have even made a list of things we miss about the States. I will post a blog about that tomorrow.

This week we had presentations, quizzes, and field trips. My Costa Rican healthcare class took a trip to an EBAIS (Equipos Básicos de Atención Integral en Salud...basically a primary care office for a single health sector). We also had a speaker come talk to us about Costa Rican snakes and snake bite, and got our groups for a healthcare debate and health fair in the coming weeks. In my Spanish class, I did a project on Anemia and I had a quiz. Both went pretty well.

This weekend we stayed at Los Lagos resort in San Carlos, Alajuela, just outside of La Fortuna. The resort and the town of La Fortuna surround the sleepy volcano Arenal (shown above).  The volcano has pretty much ceased all activity for probably the next couple of decades, so I was pretty safe. The area was beautiful, and the resort had all sorts of attractions like a Butterfly Garden, a Crocodile (in Spanish: Cocodrile...isn't that an awesome word?) Farm, Ant and Frog houses, a Spa, hot springs, a hot pool with a wet bar, and a cold pool (all pools equipped with water slides). The rooms were comfortable, but the property was so big that we had to take a shuttle everywhere. We also had no Wifi or hardly any cell phone service. We were definitely in the middle of nowhere.

On Saturday, we went into La Fortuna to eat lunch and shop a bit. My roommates and I had an amazing lunch of salads and sandwiches at a restaurant in town, then went to a Chocolateria where I bought a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans. Afterward, we hiked down 550 steps to the bottom of the La Fortuna Waterfall and hung out in the surrounding catch-pool. My Chacos definitely got a work out.

After we hiked back up the trail (pictured above and not quite as fun as it looks), we went back to the resort and relaxed in the pools with friends.

Next week will be just as busy if not more. In Spanish class, I have two quizzes, a presentation, and I am visiting a public and a private hospital. On Wednesday, we have a holiday and we might be going on a tour of coffee plantation that day. On Friday, we will be going to Irazu Volcano, which is active, a basillica in Cartago, then a handful of us will be leaving for Manuel-Antonio, which is a beautiful national park/rainforest/beach in the central Pacific. I am so excited for that trip!

I will hopefully update more this week! Especially tomorrow, like I said before.

Pura vida, mae.

Jill