We started our third weekend extremely early on a drive to Arenal. Despite attempting to rent a car, we were able to Uber for hours and secured travel throughout the day which helped a lot with flexibility. We first arrived at La Fortuna Waterfall which was a very short hike compared to others and involved a lot less slipping. When we reached the basin for the waterfall, the rocks were very slippery so we were climbing on top of them on all fours not-so-gracefully. The water was so gorgeous and blue, like water that I had never seen before. We ended up exploring the entire waterway at the bottom of the waterfall and were dragged by the current for a bit. It was such a peculiar feeling because the current was so strong that we were screaming but we were moving so slowly. After being in the water for a bit, we had the opportunity to just admire the greenery around and it felt like I was in the movie Avatar. We ended up leaving after a couple of hours and headed to see Arenal Volcano.
There, we paid to enter the National Park which we later realized we could have gone to see the volcano with hanging bridges which was a bit unfortunate. Hiking there was a lot easier than previous hikes, but the top third of the volcano was covered by clouds. We decided to explore another hiking trail that led us to lava rocks from the previous eruption of the volcano. We were also able to see Lake Arenal which was a gorgeous view. A couple had also left a note in the bottle letting us know they were exploring the world and asking for people who found the note to take pictures there which was incredibly cute. After hiking in Arenal, it began to pour and we weren’t sure whether to still head to hot springs. However, we decided that since we were already going to get wet from the hot springs, we might as well go in the rain. We stopped at Termalitas Hot Springs which seemed to be a local spot and was very peaceful. We wanted to stay all day, but we had agreed with our driver for a set time and decided to leave, so we wouldn’t head back to San Jose super late.
Me after stopping the Uber to take a picture of the smoking volcano!
While the rest of the group headed to Playa Hermosa, I decided to stay back in Selina to rest from being sick all week and study for the MCAT.
On Monday, we headed to Heredia where we met with other Rice students in the Rice in Country program. There, I reconnected with Mya, my close friend from freshman year, and learned about their very different experiences in Costa Rica. She also talked about enrolling in the GMI program and it made me excited about potentially enrolling in the master’s and returning to Costa Rica.
For our last week of classes, we spent the first couple of days finalizing our prototype. Recognizing that we would not receive our needed materials in time and that we would not have time to troubleshoot our electronics, our team had to completely shift gears on our project. We decided to sew electrodes into the sock which worked well and carried out our concept. We also decided to use TENS electronics in the shoe to ensure the treatment can be delivered and incorporated a circuit to demonstrate the BLE-enabled capabilities. We spent Thursday testing on ULACIT students which were very successful. Finally, we finished our presentation and project demo which was bittersweet because we were able to finalize a project with a team despite the hurdles and it was coming to an end. We ended Thursday with dinner and bowling with Dr. Wettergreen, a very fun end to a month of hard work and exploration. Friday was a very short but stressful day as everyone was traveling while Jefferson and I planned to return to NYC.
This past month has been so surreal and transformative. I am so very grateful for the experience and excited to share all my new knowledge with friends and family back home. Can’t wait to return to my second home sooner or later.