The Beginning

Everyone was talking about flights on the program facebook page and it appeared that I was going to be the last to arrive (at least of those who posted) so I was glad to get to baggage claim and see someone with a Duke sweatshirt on- fortunately he and two others who had been on the same plane were indeed on my program. On the drive to the hotel we were most surprised by two things: fast food chains we knew from the United States and barbed wire surrounding the schoolyards. When we arrived at the hotel I again regretted how much I had packed because we had to drag our luggage up two flights of stairs.

In the morning we had our first Costa Rican breakfast with gallo pinto (rice cooked with beans and spices/herbs), scrambled eggs and fresh papaya, watermelon and pineapple. I’m a fan and definitely plan on learning to cook gallo pinto when I get back to the states.

We spent the day at the headquarters for OTS, or OET (organización para estudios tropicales) in Spanish, which is located at the University of Costa Rica, the largest university in the country. They told us what anyone would expect from an orientation… don’t walk alone after dark, wear rubber boats when walking outdoors so you don’t get snake bites, don’t wear your field pants twice to avoid chiggers, watch your stuff on public buses, etc. We also learned some typical Costa Rican phrases such as ticos (what Costa Ricans call themselves, apparently due to the fact that the use diminutives for many of their words… for example aguita- little water, cafecito- little coffee, pancito - little bread, ahorita – little now?, anyways, you get the point), mae, pura vida and that it’s best to ignore the cat calls/piropos.

Las Cruces

The trip from San Jose took us 6 hours by bus. We took the road that went by the coast. Although we’d make the trip five more times during the semester that was the only time we were able to take that route because it deteriorated too much during the rainy season, which lasts through November.

The first morning a dozen of us went running. The hills are intense. I wish we had ones half that size to train on in Brunswick or Amherst. The roads are fairly narrow and curvy so it’s a bit nerve-wracking when big trucks speed by. The views are nice though. Everything’s extremely green and in the mornings it’s really pretty with mist still hanging over the valleys.

The weather pattern became fairly predictable. The morning was usually sunny or overcast and the rain would start in the afternoons. I was surprised that it was dark by 5. I guess I had expected that countries closer to the equator would have more hours of daylight although in retrospect I should’ve expected the twelve hour split.

Las Cruces is primarily a botanical garden so during that first week we got to take a tour of the area. We started to recognize the now familiar heliconia flowers, the variety of palms and the agoutis (fairly large rodents) that run around the gardens.

The food is delicious, served what we call “family style” because the dishes are put out on each table, all of which seat seven. The vegetarian options have been quite good, including stuffed zucchini, lasagna and other dishes I didn’t expect in Costa Rica. Despite how much I like rice and beans I always enjoy the spaghetti and pizza days. The rice seems to be cooked less than I am used to (different variety or method of cooking than Asian rice?) and I miss brown rice. They commonly serve what is frequently translated as “natural drink” which is usually a heavily sweetened juice. We made a daily game out of guessing which fruit it was made out of. Passionfruit is my favorite.

Our dorms remind me of what a typical summer camp might be like. Rooms sleep 3-6 and they’re all bunked. There’s not so much space for luggage so suitcases end up scattered about the common area. It reminds me of freshman year in a way. Everyone congregates in the common area, studies together, walks to meals together, etc. Even more, we all take the same four classes.

Overall I think the hardest thing to get used to was throwing toilet paper in the trash (the septic systems are sometimes narrower here than we’re used to in the U.S.)

During that first week we went on our first field trips for the semester. We visited an EBAIS (Equipo Básico de Atención Integral en Salud), which is the name for the team of health care workers that provide their primary level health, in an indigenous territory for the Ngöbe and another that serves non-indigenous people nearby. When we were at La Casona, the Ngöbe territory, it struck me how much warmer it was than at Las Cruces even though we had driven slightly less than hour. Even now, Costa Rica’s microclimates continue to amaze me. Also notable was that although there was a stream that ran right by the community, they did not have running water in their homes.

To put EBAISes in context let me give a few details about the health care system here. Every community of 4-5,000 has a building for the EBAIS and at least five people who work as part of the equipo (team): a physician, a nurse, a primary care technician (ATAP), a records technician and a pharmacy technician/pharmacist. Costa Ricans health expenses are covered through Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social through paying part of their income and their employer paying another part. Children, students 18-25, spouses of workers and indigenous people are all automatically covered. The regular payment also covers disability, maternity and the elderly. At the primary level patients are referred to secondary level clinics or regional hospitals or to the tertiary level at hospitals in the capital. So in summary there is a level of similarity in care that I would not expect in the United States but infrastructure does vary from place to place and transportation and culture can affect the ease at which health services are accessed.