Zip Line!

Today was another wonderful day in Costa Rica. Our day started with working in San Jose at the hospital. We got out a little early so that we could explore Braulio Carillo National Park. It was absolutely breathtaking. Maggie and I went Zip-Lining. Check it out!!

On the bus to the National Park!

We are ready to Zip-Line!

Debbie with the tour guide.

Maggie taking off on one of the first lines! Wahoo!

Look closely... can you see Maggie? Right under the palm branch!



Our views!

Maggie hanging from the zip line!

Debbie on the Zip Line! Soo fun!

Zip Line Pro!! She was awesome!

Having a blast!

Taking off backwards!

Pura Vida = Life is Good!

El Rio Sucio = The Dirty River!

Surprises!

So, Maggie and I have been here in Costa Rica for about 1 week. It has been exciting and interesting getting acclimated in a new country. Here are some interesting things we have discovered.

1) Every Meal = Rice + Black Beans

2) The country is technologically advanced! There is wi-fi everywhere, all the students have iPads, and the hospital uses electronic records. In some ways, they are ahead of the US!

3) Lots of plant roots and herbal remedies. These drinks come from fermented milk, roots, and seeds. Most are supposed to help with stomach aches and other gastrointestinal issues. We had a local sit down and explain them to us and we also got to sample! Very interesting!

4) There are tons of markets (mercados) that make you feel like you're in China Town.

5) There are lots of hills and mountains. For some reason, I didn't realize all of the volcanoes and changes in elevation. I was expecting most of the country to be at sea level and flat. That is not the case!

6) Its expensive! The cost of eating out, shopping, and spending money is comprable to what things would cost in the US. I was hoping our dollar would stretch us a little further, but that is not happening so far! I need a Costa Rica Loan! Haha.

7) The entire country in GORGEOUS! There is more area with national parks than any other country. There are beaches, rainforests, tours, zip-lining courses, and so much wildlife. This is where Maggie and I will be going tomorrow.

Hospital Dia Uno

Today was another wonderful day in Costa Rica! We spent the morning at La Clinica Biblica (a private hospital) that is in the southern part of San Jose. This morning we went to a presentation on H1N1 known as the swine flu. It was pretty interesting. This is the pharmacy consultation window where we will spend some of out time.

One of the clinical pharmacists went and got us breakfast. It consisted of scrambled eggs, toast, and you guessed it... rice and black beans. It would not be a "Tico" or Costa Rican meal without rice and beans, even at 8am! After that we went and looked through some patient charts. It is really neat to see all the different medications (canadian and european) that they use here in Costa Rica! We have lots to learn!

This afternoon, I found heaven in Costa Rica! This is about 20 minutes from our house and it a huge huge MALL! It has every US and Foreign store that I could think of. I only had about 30 minutes to explore the different sites, but I know for sure I will be back!

This is 3 levels of absolute bliss! I am in love!


This is the view I had as I was walking home. Costa Rica is absolutely gorgeous and this wonderful country continues to amaze me!

This evening, we went to a lecture at UCIMED (the university) where we learned about the History of Costa Rica and the Health Care System. It was a wonderful day in Costa Rica. Maggie and I are starting to feel like we are locals here.

Here in Costa Rica, they call themselves Ticos. So goodnight, from the Ticos! :-)

Down to Business

First day of rotation! Bienvenidos = Welcome!

Today was our first day of rotation. Maggie and I are here to see how the health care system and pharmacies operate in Costa Rica. We are taking some classes at a Medical School or University called UCIMED. This is a campus that trains doctors, pharmacists, physical therapists, and nutrition specialists. It was super nice and we plan to attend some lectures during our visit!

After we visited UCIMED, we continued on our tour to a private hospital in the city of San Jose. This is where we will spend several weeks working inside the hospital and at this outpatient pharmacy. Everyone is extremely welcoming and delighted to have us.

We were also given a tour of the hospital today. We were surprised that is operates with electronic medical records (all patient info on the computer) and that it was very clean. This is a photo of what a nursing station looks like. Some of the rooms were tiny, but overall the hospital is really nice.

Most of our day was meeting some different doctors and getting our paperwork finalized. This is Maggie and I waiting for "student insurance" that will cover us in case we get injured while we are working. We are not too sure if it will really help us in the long run, but we are covered!

We had an awesome first day filled with meeting new people and touring around. We start at 7am tomorrow with a talk on H1N1 (flu) and we have a long day ahead. Bye for now!

Beach Adventure

Maggie and I spent the weekend at the Beach!

This is Paradise!

We had a wonderful weekend in Jaco, Costa Rica. Jaco (pronounced Haco) is a beach town that is about 2 hours from the San Jose. We had lunch at a taco stand, ventured through the town, and met some really neat people. We also layed by the beach and enjoyed the hot and humid weather. Here are some pictures from the beach where we spent a lot of our time. :-)

My first cerveza (beer) in Costa Rica. Delicioso!

On Sunday, we left Jaco and made our way to the next beach town, Playa Hermosa. This is a very small beach town.. probably only a few hundred people, but it was nice and peaceful. There was a surfing competition going on, so we layed out and enjoyed the Latin American beach! It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend. We are off to our first day of work tomorrow.






Lots more to come! - Debbie and Maggie

Dia Uno - My First Day!

We had an excellent first day in Costa Rica! Maggie and I woke up to a wonderful breakfast of assorted fruits including pineapple, papaya, banana, grapes, and strawberries! Yum! We took a walk through the neighborhood and found this..

Can you guess what we found? Yes, a Wal-Mart with everything that we could possible imagine. We are thankful that we live about 10 minutes away just in case we forgot anything!

Then we took a bus into San Jose...

We walked all around the city and found lots of markets and shops, like this...

Behind me is an ice cream and sorbet counter that a lot of the locals seem to enjoy. We spent a lot of time looking through all of the different shops. Thankfully, I resisted buying anything!

Then we asked one of the locals for a place to get a traditional Costa Rican plate for lunch. We had a great time at this corner restaurant that was delicious! Here is what we had...

Then our waiter surprised us with some Jello! It was all so so yummy!
We enjoyed our day trip into the city and we have big plans for the weekend ahead.

More to come! Love you all!!

My new home!

So, we made it to Costa Rica without any issues. It was a direct flight and only 5 hours! I am traveling with a classmate in pharmacy school named Maggie. This is us leaving the US.

We are staying at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast that is right outside of San Jose. Maggie and I are sharing the master bedroom which has worked out great! Here is our new place!!