Week in Review

I fixed my computer this week!  A big thank you to my brother for walking me through how to remove the Trojan and restore my computer!  

Last Friday was the last day for my medical Spanish class.  The Spanish classes meet every day for four hours (total of 80 hours) for one month.  My final consisted of a presentation over rheumatoid arthritis, an oral exam, and a written exam.  I was really nervous for my presentation, and I thought I did really poorly.  However, when grades were posted, I ended up getting an A! The oral exam was a mock interview of a patient.  I was the doctor and had to obtain the patient’s personal information, ask about their diet, daily habitats, and then the reason for their visit or major complaint.  At the very end, we had to give recommendations for treating the complaint.  My oral exam went really well.  My patient had acid reflex which was not one of the diseases or disorders we discussed in class but luckily my classes in physiology and anatomy at Stephens covered acid reflex treatments!  The final exam consisted of three short essays.  I thought the exam was really easy, and apparently I did well because I am now taking advanced Spanish grammar and conversation!

The San Pedro Mall is a 20 minute walk from my home.

Last weekend I stayed in San Jose and explored the town.  I went to San Pedro (a neighborhood in San Jose) and went shopping in the mall.  I didn’t buy anything, but I found a great shoe store and a book store.  I wanted to buy a pair of Toms shoes for $15, but they didn’t have any in my size and in the style I wanted.  Finding shoes in my size (9 or 40 European) can be very hard.  Most Ticas are shorter than me (I’m only 5ft 7in) and the average shoe size is a 6 or 7. In the afternoon, I went to the peace park because I learned from a person in the mall that there was a festival celebrating Costa Rican culture.  The park was full of people.  There were a lot of free activities such as face painting, balloon animals, and yoga.  I had a great time people watching and conducting short conversations in Spanish with a few of the locals.  

La Plaza de la Cultura is the center of downtown San Jose with thousands of pigeons!

 Sunday afternoon I went to downtown San Jose.  I mostly explored the area and shopped. I bought a nice shirt for $3.  Once again I spent a lot of time people watching.  I also listened to a preacher in one of the plazas.  I understood maybe 40% of what he was saying. Since it is dark around 6pm here, I usually return to the house around 5pm.  It is not recommend to be out after dark especially in the downtown area.  Even the locals are usually home around 5pm or 6pm.  I spent the evenings watching movies in Spanish such as, The Lion King, Mulan, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Ice Age. Pura Vida!

Hundreds of these doves can be found in the downtown area. Each one is uniquely decorated and represents the culture of Costa Rica and the value of peace.