Study/Work/Volunteer Abroad in Costa Rica: Arenal y Bungee Jumping

Hola!

Another eventful week in Costa Rica...where to begin.

In school, we have been doing presentations on medical equipment; explaining how it works, common problems, how to troubleshoot, etc. (of course all in spanish). I just did mine on Monday on autoclaves, it was a fun time. In lab, we have been taking the equipment that we brought down with us to donate (defibrillators, ESU's, ECG's. pulse ox's, blood pressure machines, centrifuges, etc.), making guides on proper usage, taking them apart and learning how they work, and doing regular maintenance. It has been great to get hands on experience on machines that we are going to be seeing in less then a week! Always a lot of information. I just hope I retain it all.

As an update to the situation in Honduras, EWH has decided to continue with the trip in Honduras. They have been in contact with numerous sources, including our own site coordinators, the US State department, the hospitals in Honduras, and an American security consultant in Honduras and all have stated that the situation is safe for us to continue. However, there are extra precautions that we are abiding to, including a mandatory curfew instated by the government. If a problem arises while we are there, we will be safely evacuated from the area.

In addition to that decision, President Zelaya attempted to return to Honduras on Sunday. His attempt failed when citizens blocked the runway of the airport and refused to move. He therefore returned to DC to decide how to proceed. Currently, he has not attempted to return again but I can imagine he will do so soon. Therefore, President Michelletti is still in office.

This past weekend, we went to Volcon Arenal, an active volcano. We left on Saturday morning at 6 am, got stuck in traffic due to an accident, and arrived in La Fortuna at around noon. While there, we were not sure what we wanted to do, so we ended up splitting into different groups and doing different things. Jared, Julien, Calvin, and I rented bicycles to ride around the town (the town itself is kind of far from the actual volcano and our hotel but it is where a lot of things are). They only cost us a dollar an hour, not bad. We asked them if there was anything near that we should see and he mentioned a waterfall that was 4km away. We decided to go. Only after we started on this trip did we realize that it was 4km UPHILL! It took us over an hour to bike up the hill and we broke out into a sweat like no other (it looked like we rode through a rain storm). We stopped halfway up, found some lady's home and asked her if she would sell us water. She said she wouldn't, but she let us drink out of her hose (we were desperate and way too dehydrated). Finally at the top, we went into the park and walked down over 400 dangerous steps to the bottom to the waterfalls. The place was absolutely stunning, truley a natural wonder. We didn't bring our bathing suits, but we swam in our skivies in the waterfall (we couldn't pass up the opportunity to swim and we were hot). After our wonderful hike back up the steps, we coasted down 4km worth of road (not to mention it was all gravel/giant stones and we picked up serious speed, it was kind of scary but a lot of fun). Once back, we hitched a ride to Baldi, a natural springs resort area with over 20 pools, water slides, a buffet, etc. It was very relaxing after a long day of bike riding. At around 9, we headed back to our hotel, which was supposed to have a perfect view of the side of the volcano where the lava flows, but unfortunately, it was way to cloudy to see anything (we ended up not seeing even the top of the volcano!). It was still cool to be near it and know that it was there in the distance.

The next morning, we had made plans to go bungee jumping. We had talked about it for a while now but we never knew when we were going to have time to do it because we had school during the weekday and we take weekend trips. While in Arenal, we talked to the tour company who said we would be able to do it on Sunday. So 6 of us brave souls set out to jump. We left La Fortuna by bus to a small town near San Ramon called Naranjo. We didn't really know where we were going, and we had to ask people on the bus if they knew which stop it was, etc. Luckily we found someone who knew what bungee jumping was and knew where Naranjo was and he showed us the stop. Of course, as soon as we got off, it started to pour. We ran to the gas station and were contemplating what to do. The man had said that it was only a 10 minute walk from there. We ended up asking the workers in the gas station who said it was over a half our walk at least. Luckily, one of the men was nice enough to offer us a ride to the place (it was kind of awkward, but the man was nice and we had more than enough people to feel comfortable). The man took us right to the bungee jumping place (we would have never found it on our own). Then it was time to jump. First, our onsite director, Michelle, jumped, then John, then Hannah, then Me, then Jared, and then Jodie. It was an experience of a lifetime, plummiting 80 meters in freefall, seeing the ground come closer and closer, it was awesome! We were able to wrap a camera around our wrist, so I also have a first person view of me jumping. I highly recommend it to everyone. Unfortunately, my camera started to malfunction and is still out of commision. I do not know if it appears to be the memory card or the actual camera, but because I have a Sony camera, I can't find a place to test a Pro Duo card (and another card costs over 100 dollars here!). Luckily, other people had cameras and were able to take some photos. Hopefully I'll be able to fix it soon though.

So we only have a couple of days left. On Thursday, we are going to my spanish professor's house for a goodbye barbeque. It should be a lot of fun. Since we are leaving on Saturday morning at 6am, we are planning to spend the night at the school (since that is where the bus picks us up). Soon enough, I'l be in a different country with only my partner. It will definately be a change of pace, but I believe I am ready for what lies ahead. I do not know if I will have the luxury of having internet at my homestay, so updates might not be as put together as they are now. I will continueing updating regularly, so everyone can know that I am safe and how I am doing. I'll try to catch everyone up before I leave, but if not, I'll write from Honduras. Adios!