Panama

So as soon as we got back to Las Cruces (aka my second home), we were of course packing for another destination, PANAMA. We had a full agenda planned out for us. We left early in the morning for David, Panama where we were going to spend only a night there. A couple hours later we arrived at the Panama/Costa Rican border, let's just say we were all really impatient. It took forever! And it was hot, I was sporting my Costa Rican soccer jersey, aka the most unbreathable, sweaty thing I have ever worn. Once we got back on the bus one of my friends noticed that he iPod got stolen by border patrol and we apparently couldn't do anything about it! When we finally arrived to David we immediately drove to visit some of Panama's health care systems. It was very interesting because they had this entire room that was just filled with freezers that contained vaccines for various diseases such as hepatitis or influenza.

The next day we were on our way to visit another indigenous territory, the Naso. We were going to be staying at this place called Weckso. We were also told that we would have to travel up river for about 45 minutes in order to reach our destination. A little side note: it had been raining steadily for the last four days and while we were on our way to this river expedition it was downpouring. So we arrive and wrap all of our backpacks in plastic trashbags to ensure not all of our clothes would become soaked. All of us eager students peer over the river back and see dug out canoes with motors. The Naso would use fallen over trees in order to make these boats. The river was also the most treacherous thing that I had ever seen, hmm this should be interesting. So we all walk onto the boat as it rocks side to side, I can vouch for myself that I quickly sat down and grasped for the sides of the boat. The rain had not let up so we all became quickly soaked with water. After what seemed like forever, we finally arrived to Weckso. We hastily filed off the boat and ran for shelter. Now the place we were staying used to be where the military used to train and it was called the School for Americas. However it had long since been abandoned. We had to sleep with mosquito nets just in case of Dengue or Malaria, yikes and from past lectures I definitely don't want either. Meron, a girl in my program, said when she entered her room she had to kill a spider the size of her hand with her shoe, however she had to step on it at least five times. The next day it was still raining and it had been raining all night long as well. We had decided to visit the indigenous people that were located across the river, half of us were to go in the morning and the other half of us would go in the afternoon. Me and some others decided to go in the afternoon, so we decided to nap, since sleep was a hard thing to come by the night before. As were all about to doze off, we heard some of the students that had gone in the morning yell for one of our teachers, their voices sounded very alarmed. We all ran out to find out that our classmates had tipped over in one of the boats and fallen over into the very scary river. Everyone was fine except one girl who floated into a rock barge and hurt her knee.

Later that day we met with one of the local medicine man's who brought us on a walk, where we learned about all the medicinal plants and trees. We even saw a plant that when combined with water it makes a foamy hand-soap. In the evening we got to see how the women make cacao, which later turned into chocolate pattys, apparently those things are so concentrated that if you ate a whole one you wouldn't sleep for days and you would hallucinate as well....

A little later on a group from up the river arrived and showed us traditional dances they have done for many generations, we even got to participate as well! It was very cool.

That entire night I didn't sleep as much, because the rain did give up a little bit, but it was still raining. Knowing that the river was still terrifying, I wasn't so sure I wanted to go back down the river. However we had a hike around the forest first. Since it had been raining for what seemed like forever, the trails were so so muddy. However we got to see some very cool frogs, that were so tiny I wasn't sure how the guide was able to point them out so easily. When we finally got in the boats, the trip down the river was very fast and it was so nice to be back in the nice and dry bus. From here we were on our way to Bocas Del Toro, which is a small island off the coast of Panama. To get there we had to take a water taxi, which was another bumpy ride. Once we got to the island, I already knew that I was going to like it. It was everything that you would expect from a small beach town. Lots of surfers and a lot of locals. When we got there it was sort of late so we hurried to dinner, because we had journal club in an hour or so. We went to this place that had the best pizza, I mean for a place that isn't really well know for their pizza. It was also happy hour... Later that night we went to this bar/discoteque that played such good music. However, it was so hot that I was dripping sweat within 5 minutes hahah. The next day we went to check out La Playa Estrella, or starfish beach. It took us about 20 minutes to walk there because there wasn't a road that went right by it. When you walked into the water there, there were so many starfish just hanging out in the water. It was sad too because we just watched as this little girl dragged all of them out of the water and drizzled sand on them and left them in the sun to bake. When she wasn't watching I threw them back into the water. As this day came to a close, so did our time in Panama. It was definitely an interesting experience.

Recent activity

It has been an interesting last couple of weeks. The internet has been in and out, also the electricity. Yes, we have indeed gone some days without electricity. It was actually so much less stressful then have e-mail, facebook, and other various things accessible by the touch of a keypad.

We had been staying at Las Cruces Biological Station for a large portion of time and it has somewhat become like home, however we move around a lot so we didn’t get to used to it. We will be back there for about three weeks to complete our final research projects. While we were there we visited a school called La Casona. Our mission here was to collect stool samples from all of the children, mainly so we could later identify any amoebas or bacteria. Many of the people in this indigenous community do not utilize healthcare and do not have proper sanitization. Therefore there is a large incidence of diarrheal diseases, more specifically amongst children. Initially I thought that this was going to be a very difficult task because I thought that they were going to be pretty reisistant. However, when we arrived they were so intrigued by us. We went into each classroom and gave our presentations, many of which involved skits and songs that talked about animals that lived in your stomach, slightly corny I know (but it worked). Afterwards, the cameras came out and they all went crazy. Some of them even grabbed my camera out of my hands and took pictures of everything. There was also one little kid who sat in my lap, but he also preceded to put his foot in my face (yes, I have a foot phobia) however I couldn’t exactly remember to convey that in Spanish. Anyways I also made a friend too. He was probably THE cutest kid. I told him I had to go present in a classroom and a couple minutes later I turn around and he is following me into the room. He also really liked my bracelet and I was going to let him have it, but I kid you not it could have been a necklace on him.

Later that week we also traveled to this remote place called Las Alturas, which is considered to be a reservation and has over 10.000 hectares of protected rainforest. This town is very remote and has probably 150 people but had over 500 people when it was more established many years ago. Since there is almost no people in this town and it’s pretty hard to access, healthcare is pretty much not existent in these parts. So with the guidance of one of our professors (also a MD) we set up our own clinic in this town. When we arrived we went right to the school because we needed to collect stool samples from the children there as well so we could send them to the hospital for analysis. The next day we had all of the children come to the clinic with us and we recorded their height and weight, eyes and ears, general checkup, and we drew blood. We each had to run our own station. I did height and weight because I really didn’t want to see little kids get their blood drawn. I guess I should preface this last statement: the previous day a little girl had to get her blood drawn and I was there for backup to hold her arm. When that needle hit her arm, I swear I almost bled from my ears. However, these children the next day were never even made a sound, they were more interested in watching then turning away. Over the next couple of days we took patients for general check-ups and other concerns they had. One of these included taking a scraping of a lesion this little boy had right by his nose (we thought he perhaps had leishmania). I had to hold his head just so he wouldn’t move, I was so surprised when he actually didn’t move at all, just because there was a razor blade right below his eye (I need to get his pain tolerance, haha kidding). Every student got a chance to shadow our professor while he was seeing the patients. I was surprised when many of the patients didn’t feel at all nervous when a student was standing in the corner, but they were pretty open. I even got to do some reflexes; one kid almost kicked me, next time I’ll stand to the side. So I forgot to mention our accommodations here in Las Alturas. We stayed in a pretty rustic cabin, lets just say we had some bug visitors during the night. A greater portion of us ended up with chiggers after we let, don’t worry I wont pass them onto you when I get back to the states, they go away in a couple of weeks. However they ITCH so bad.

All the rage

Our equivalent to a certain celeb named Justin Timberlake? Perhaps

I'm scared of Dengue

So I am sitting in the "common room" of the research station we just arrived to yesterday and apparently there are all sorts of bugs that love the light here, including this giant green thing that looks like a grasshopper, but much larger ah. Also tons and tons of moths.

Anyway back in San Jose we did a few notable things before we left, this included a visit to an organization called Children without Borders. It basically provides any child under the age of fifteen with free healthcare. So we went to probably one of the poorest parts of Costa Rica to observe many of the health factors that they encounter. When we arrived there we parked at a bridge and as we crossed over the bridge I looked down into the water and there was a milky hue that was covering the entire top of the river as well as large amounts of trash as well. It wasn't until that we went into the community that I was in complete and utter shock. The women who was leading us through the labyrinth of homes said that about 3000 people lived in an area of less than two acres. The walkway was barely considered to be walkable as most of them were covered in wooden planks and sheets of metal. There were so many ADORABLE children that would stick their curious heads outside the windows as we went by and it was very sad to think that many of them had yet to receive healthcare. We also went to a similar neighborhood that was also located close by and we went here with a purpose. We created a survey which consisted mainly of public health related questions. It was an interesting day, many families were so considerate about answering the questions but many were not, considering they were from Nicaragua and could get into trouble if they were here. We also found one house that was one level and had about 18 people living in it!

On Sunday we went to the Mercado Central and the heart of downtown San Jose and it was SO much fun. This place was bustling like crazy, especially with people screaming out something associated with the lottery in Costa Rica. You would be surprised out how many people there are that sell lottery tickets on the street. Anyways we got into the building that was loaded with shops and got a scavenger hunt list, with some bizarre things on it. I think I went up to like twelve butchers, and btw my shirt still smells like meat, looking for intestines...There was also this fruit called "Noni" and let me just forewarn you, it reeks. I put it up to my nose and immediately threw it to the ground, whoops. I also had ceviche there and it was so so good. Also, while we were waiting for some of the professors we decided to walk down the street a little bit. So, we passed by this store that had the most insane mannequins I have ever seen ( I will post a picture soon) and of course I had to pose with them and I guess the looks from the store manager were perfectly normal. We were also walking down the "main street" that was lined with stores and in the middle there were these different vendors that had all of their goods displayed on sheets, I sorta just took this in stride. We stopped to look at some pirated DVD's, I mean come on you could buy Avatar for 2 dollars. I had a DVD and my hand and no sooner than two seconds after I heard a person scream police was the DVD ripped out of my hand and the guy had gathered up his entire sheet and sprinted off. Good thing I wasn't caught with that...Later that night we decided to have a little night out, mainly because all we had was a soccer game to go to the next day. We decided to go this placed called "Castro's" which is mainly a salsa/merengue place which was RUL awkward because they are all amazing dancers, I was put to shame but like twelve year olds (sarcasm). BUT THEN Lady Gaga/Daddy Yankee/American music came on and I showed them how it was done. Anyways it was a fun night, however apparently one of our friends taxi's got into an accident.

The next day we went to a Cartago versus UCR soccer game, ok so they are the worst two teams in the league but the game was really packed! I guess it just goes to show you how Costa Rican's love their soccer. The game was fun because when one of the teams finally got a goal, it was a great relief. Also there was a man selling mangoes, with limon y sal..haha oh Costa Rica

Things that make my life complete

I eat chiky's everyday, sometimes I eat them at 7:00 am when we are on the bus. I douse everything with Lisano.

OK...so don't kill me , I know I havent blogged in quite a while, but I have been really busy, well at least I like to think I am. Time goes by so so fast here, I can't believe I have already been here for a month! Anyways, so I left off with us leaving Las Cruces and heading to San Jose to start our homestays in San Jose. So once we got to San Jose we went to the Costa Rican Language Academy where we would get onto another bus to be dropped off at our homestays. So, I thought it was extremely strange that the driver said I was the last one to get off the bus and I was the closest to the school, but I went along with it. Comes to find out my mama tica (homestay mom) was on the bus the entire time and I was announcing to the entire bus how nervous I was that she was going to be mean or what not. In the end she just laughed it off, but it was embarrassing nonetheless, but I mean at least she's nice. I think I might ask her for a hair cut (shes a stylista) and perhaps I'll get the faux hawks that are apparently all the rage here amongst the teenage boys in Costa Rica, along with a gallon of hair gel...hmm.

By the way, sorry this post is going to be so long, but muchos cosas have happened! So Spanish class started and I am in a class with other kids from my program. My teacher Karolina, yes so much to say about her. I think she really grew on me, especially because she calls me Tailler (yeah try to sound it out..) Later that day after class we had to take the bus home. Well let me just tell you alittle about the roads here in Costa Rica, rush hour is terrifying! There are two lanes in the road but people make four or five, I mean whatever gets them home. Cars also do not stop for pedestrians, so one time I think I waited 15 minutes to cross the road. Anyways embarrassing story on the bus, these busses are so rough when they stop and go and at 5 pm they are so crowded and this time I had to stand. The bus driver had to stop abruptly I guess and I flung myself into the laps of two Costa Ricans, whoops.

So the first weekend arrived pretty quickly and some and me of the others decided to go to Arenal Volcano. The trip there was long because we were on a tour bus with a bijillion tourists, I mean I guess we are too technically, but I tend to try not to think of that. Anyways once we got there we went directly to the Hot Springs and they were amazing, I think it was just the setting too because it was surrounded by trees and the water was amazingly warm. We also saw quite the characters there as well, a couple taking a photo shoot, I tried to paparazzi a picture of them because it was so bizarre, but they caught on. But later that night we went to our hotel and met some staff in the restaurant who were very welcoming and enjoyed our company I think. To sum up the night lots of Daddy Yankee a fave here in Costa Rica and cucarachas and submarines. On the way back the next day, our driver spotted a sloth that looked like a branch in a tree, so we were quite impressed. The sloth also had a baby with it, I was dying.

So as soon as we got back, we headed off to Grano de Oro with the entire class, which is one of the poorest towns in Costa Rica and also home to one of the indigenous territories and people. The ride there was probably one of the worst things I have ever experienced. The roads were so bumpy I think I spent more time in the air then on my seat. However of course we stopped for a bathroom break and this guy from Germany or wherever came up to our bus and sold us such good cake. OF COURSE I had to get some because I love food, it was delic. Anyways so once we got the "ranch" we were staying at me and Alissa saw some puppps (black labs I think) that were too cute to pass up, however once we ran up to them, we spotted mad amounts of fleas. But its typical for all dogs here, gross. They were still so cute though. There was also a cat there that we decided to name Becky (Abby, I thought of you). That cat liked us so much that it brought us a live mouse as a gift. The next morning we were going to hike down to one of the medical posts that was about an hours hike away from the town of Grano de Oro. See these people live all throughout the mountains in this area and some of them live up to a 2 days hike away. Well lets just say the hike was extremely hilly and muddy, most people did not come out with clean shoes. But I give mad props to Jessie for hiking down and UP with a boot (aka cast) on her foot. When we got there, most people from the states would be shocked because It was basically a shack. The supplies there were extremely essential and what the doctors typically do is get a list together of the supplies needed and bring them once a month. Anyways another embarrassing story, so we were just standing there listening to the doctor explain the set-up and I felt a little faint, yikes. I proceed to almost fall out the doorway, but I gather enough strength to sit down and my prof Jorge runs over and gives me a chocolate. Weird that I was instantly better after that?

Later in the week, my spanish teacher announced we were going to learn Shakira, I think I may have startled her when I let out a yelp, come on I love Shakira. Just picture me singing this.

Las Cruces and Panama/Costa Rican Border

So on Wednesday we left from San Jose and left for Las Cruces Biological Station in San Vito. This station is located about 1200 meters above sea level so it's pretty high up there and get's pretty cold at night, so we haven't really had to deal with tremendous heat yet. However I still have been sweating so much more than I do in Vermont haha. This station also protects more than 300 hectares of tropical premontane forest and it receives about 4 meters of rainfall each year.

The drive to the station was a bit overwhelming since it lasted about six hours, the roadsystem is also INSANE here. The roads are the width to fit about one car

but there always seem to be two cars on the road, I still don't get it. The next day we had some down time to look around the place th

at we would be staying at for a good amount of time. When we were walking around in the garden we saw what looked like a combination of a squirrel, rabbit and chipmunk. It's called an agouti they are everywhere.

We also took a field trip to the Costa Rica/Panamanian border and along the way we stopped to look at a couple different "shacks" that housed many of the immigrants that crossed over to Costa Rica from Panama to work during the Coffee season. This room would fit up to about 60 people. We then stopped by another set of "housing" for the coffee workers, which was slightly more livable. It was sort of eerie because there were various shoes and other signs of life and it seems as though they were all just there. It also felt as though we had stepped back in time.

So we also made another Sunday trip to Rio Sereno, which is the border town between Costa Rica and Panama. However this time we were going to hand out condoms. So there is a huge problem with prostitution and there is also a couple of bars in the same street that all the men flock to and drink incredible amounts of alcohol. So when we got there at 2 p.m. there were some men that could not even stand up. We went into the bars to hand out the condoms and many of them were accepting and many of them were not. Many of them were cat calling all of the girls in the group and asking them "if they were working" clearly getting the wrong impression when they were handing them the condoms. I also got grabbed by the wrist as well as my other friend did, when we did not give the guy an extra one. It was such a culture shock, because this situation was completely new. We saw rooms in the back of the bars that belonged to the prostitutes. They cost about ten dollars that was if the guy included the pail so she could clean up. The men also have something similar to "fight club", where they will go out in the street and just fight for hours. Although it was pretty scary, it was one of the best experiences yet.

Classes have been going pretty well so far, we have just been doing a lot of introductory stuff. It seems that the classes are going to be alot of work, but we still have fun. The food is also delic, lots of rice and beans with lisano, which is the BEST sauce ever invented. I think I put it on everything. On Saturday we also went to the "local" fair, which was very interesting. Everyone was staring at us, but I mean that's expected. We went into this large arena where everyone was doing the merengue and salsa'ing. They were putting all of us to shame, there were some Costa Rican teens that tried to come over and copy our dancing. In here we got some finger points, I guess they didn't like our dancing too much.