On Sunday, I went to my first clinical observation at Clinica Biblica Santa Ana. I was anxious at first to go into a hospital setting, however, once arriving the hospital was pretty empty and it was a very easy morning of observing. After our observations, Alice and I went to a Catholic Mass which had a very pretty building. For dinner, the guys cooked pasta and I ate it.
Monday, we went to Clinica Biblica in San Jose. This hospital was a lot larger and there was a lot more to see and problems to observe. I think because of the size of the hospital many things had to be done faster and in greater amounts so organized and enough equipment was lacking.
On Tuesday class started at ULACIT. The campus is a very great place to be at; the common areas are inviting. Also, the classroom we are staying at is a very nice, clean space. After lunch, we got placed in groups for our engineering design project. I am in the Tens group with Alice and Walsh, trying to make a device in which workers can have a tens device on their feet while they work. After dinner, Sarah, Brendan, Jake and I took a dance class that taught us some salsa and bachata moves.
Wednesday and Thursday were great workdays where our group was able to locally purchase supplies to start creating different and fuller prototypes. We were even able to purchase Tens devices which were interesting and funny to test.
Friday was an exciting field trip day. Carly and I went ended up getting rained on while we were at the Parque Nacional so we walked to Public Library and then MADC, a contemporary museum. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but the museum was very modern and very interesting. Afterward we went to Cafe Rojo where I got to have delicious Vietnamese coffee!
Saturday, we took a 4.5-hour bus ride to Monteverde and stayed at Mi Casa Tica which was a really sweet and cute hostel. The owner has an adorable porcupine. Once we got there we took a shuttle to Santa Elena Cloud Forest. Afterward, we walked around the hostel and went to cute souvenir shops. For dinner, we went to Tree House, a very nice dinner place, and got some good pizza.
Final thoughts:
The Clinica Bíblica is an extremely nice hospital however, when you take a closer look at some of their process there is always new needs to be found. Also, working with a three-person group in a design project has been easier to come to conclusions than the groups of five I have worked with. Lastly, Monteverde is a really wonderful environment to be in, one of the best places in CR.
walsh’s foot modeling out the first prototype
me and the sticker display at MADC
me in the cloud forest
puerco espin!!