Estación Biológica Las Cruces

I can't believe that I have only been in Costa Rica for one week! It already feels like it has been a month, and I am absolutely loving everything about it!

The station is gorgeous and I am definitely getting used to living in a tropical paradise. The botanical gardens are incredible and have been a great resource for our Ethnobiology course. We were led on a lovely tour of the grounds on Friday morning, and I was able to get some awesome photos, here are are a couple of the best ones -

Classes are in full swing here at Las Cruces, and I have already learned so much. I am really enjoying courses in Ethnobiology, Global Health and Tropical Medicine. Just a quick summary of each course description, in case anyone is interested:

• Ethnobiology: Ethnobiology is the scientific study of dynamic relationships between peoples, biota, and environments, from the distant past to the immediate present. This course will focus on how humans use plants and animals as medicine, and their symbolic and spiritual role in different cultures. 
• Global Health and Tropical Medicine: This course integrates classroom and field instruction to introduce students to the fundamental principles of tropical medicine and public health including the tropical environment and its related health issues. Students will study topics including infectious diseases, epidemiology, virology and zoonosis, sexual health and reproductive issues, environmental health (vector ecology, water quality, waste management, entomology, toxicology), global health issues (emerging tropical diseases), and traditional and alternative medicine.

We have had several interesting lectures already including A Brief History of Costa Rica, Intro to Ethnobiology, Intro to Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Costa Rica's Public Health System, Ngöbe Culture, and the Ethics of Ethnobiological Research. In addition to classes, we have already been on two awesome field trips! On Monday, we toured an EBAIS (Equipos Básicos de Atención Integral en Salud) (rough translation - Basic teams for integral attention in health) in the San Vito area. An EBAIS is basically a primary care clinic in the first tier of Costa Rican health care, and each EBAIS serves between 2500 and 5000 people. The tour and guest lecture at the EBAIS were helpful in illuminating the intricacies of Costa Rica's socialized health care system. And then today, we visited an EBAIS deep in Ngöbe territory, to compare the level of care in urban and rural areas. The Ngöbe people are an indigenous tribe located in Costa Rica and Panama, and there are about 4000 Ngöbe people currently living in Costa Rica. Interacting with the indigenous people was an awesome experience, and it was great to see, first-hand, the challenges the Costa Rican health care system faces in indigenous territories. 

On Sunday, our day off, I went on an incredible four hour hike through the rainforest (and even part of a cloud forest!) with a few other students and one of our professors. The hike was invigorating and we got to see some incredible plants. Here are a couple of the better pictures from the hike:

After the hike, a few of us watched a movie (Avatar! a group favorite) and relaxed. I was also able to attend mass at a Catholic Church in San Vito that night. While I may not have been able to keep up with the priest's high speed Spanish, the mass was lovely. 

Although I have settled into Las Cruces beautifully, unfortunately it is already time to move again. Tomorrow morning we will be loading up the bus and heading back to San Jose for our 2 week homestays! While living with a host family in Sabanilla (a short bus ride from San Jose), I will begin intensive Spanish courses at the Costa Rican Language Academy in San Jose, as well as continuing the Ethnobiology and Global Health and Tropical Medicine courses at the OTS headquarters nearby. The experience promises to be interesting, given my weak background in Spanish, but I am looking forward to it all very much.

Updates about the homestay to follow!

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!

I am finally in Costa Rica!!! Woohoo!!! I flew into San Jose on Monday at 11:30am, local time (2 hours behind eastern standard time). After the long journey through immigration, baggage claim, and customs, I finally made it to the El Sesteo Hotel and met up with the 27 other OTS students. Our professors had a little pizza party for us, and fun was had by all. Then we got the opportunity to explore the city a bit. We found a bank and exchanged some money. The exchange rate is roughly 500 colones for 1 dollar (it is so strange to walk around with thousands of colones on me, I feel like a high roller!). San Jose is a very busy and interesting city (not to mention beautiful!), and I can't wait to explore it more during my homestay.

Tuesday, we went to the OTS headquarters and had a long day of orientation - paperwork, introductions, and syllabi galore! Another night at the Sesteo, and we were up at 6:00am on Wednesday to begin the long bus ride to the Las Cruces Research Station where we will be spending the next week. The bus ride was frustratingly long, but the sites were well worth seeing. The Costa Rican countryside is absolutely stunning.  Las Cruces itself is gorgeous as well. It is located near small village called San Vito, and the station is surrounded by the world renowned Wilson Botanical Gardens. I haven't had a chance to explore yet (its pouring - surprise! its the rainy season), but can't wait to take some pictures (hopefully tomorrow!).

My first lecture is in 15 minutes, I can't wait!!! The courses I will be taking down here are Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Ethnobiology, Culture and Language in Costa Rica, and our own independent research practicum. The Spanish language classes will be at the Costa Rican Language Academy in San Jose, while we are with our host families (3 weeks). The other courses will be taught all over the country (whichever station we are at) and by all three professors. The professors will be working as an interdisciplinary team, and our schedules vary from day to day, depending on the various field work and fieldtrips we will be doing. Regardless of the specifics, we are busy from 8am to 8pm Monday through Saturday, and only have Sundays off. So I anticipate being VERY busy the vast majority of the time. The courses all seem really intense, but extremely interesting, so I can't wait to get going!

Alrightie, that is all for now! Time for class! :)

T-Minus 7 Days!!!

I just took my first anti-malaria pill this morning … which means I LEAVE IN ONE WEEK! Ay dios mio!!! I am pretty much all packed and revved up to go.

For the benefit of those who may not know, I am participating in a Global Health Undergraduate Semester Abroad with Duke University – “Tropical Medicine and Public Health in Costa Rica.” Here is some info from my orientation packet, which explains what I’ll be doing down there: “You are part of a new and unique opportunity for students considering careers in the health sciences and health policy. We are confident that this semester will be one of the most challenging and fulfilling experiences of your college career. In Costa Rica, you will become immersed in the scientific and social aspects of tropical medicine. You’ll visit both urban and rural medical facilities operating within Costa Rica’s world-renowned public health system. You will visit several indigenous communities in Costa Rica, and learn about their culture and challenges they face, particularly those related to health. You will work in some of the world’s premier tropical research sites, experiencing nature intimately. You’ll also be visiting museums, national parks, market places, and agricultural farms in order to immerse yourself in Costa Rican culture. You will also have the opportunity to plan, develop, present, and write your own research project. You should expect to work hard, learn a lot, and also have fun! … Your group consists of up to 25 students plus the OTS staff (including physicians, microbiologists, and ethnobiologists.)”

So I am pretty jazzed for all the amazing things I am sure to learn about tropical medicine and global health this semester. I am really excited about the program, the people and absolutely everything!!!

I am also really looking forward to the awesome life-changing experiences I am sure to have in Costa Rica. As my good friend Italo Calvino says in Invisible Cities, ”the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer posses lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.” I know that this semester abroad will open my eyes to new perspectives, new people and new ideas. I can’t wait to jump in!

I am going to miss everyone terribly though! So PLEASE keep in touch these next few months. I will not be bringing my cell phone down, but I should have fairly reliable internet access the whole time. So Skype, email and facebook are all excellent means of communication. J

Please stay tuned for (hopefully) frequent updates about my romp in the rainforest! And feel free to pass this blog along to anyone I may have forgotten to include!