Pura Vida

Not having had the opportunity to conclude on Uganda, I will briefly state that the end of the project went well, we presented a good number of data to our community partner, and for now some of us are still working on putting together a report in addition to one we submitted as sort of a description of our work to the university and hospital we partnered with. Then we said our goodbyes to all of our new friends, spent a couple of days in Kampala, and headed home, where we said goodbye to the team in Newark. Most of us are returning to Duke this week, but as for me, I am in COSTA RICA for the Duke Semester Study Abroad through the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) !!!

I could not be more excited about being in Costa Rica and everything so far has been great. It is a tropical, rainy place, and I do not anticipate a day without heavy rainstorms, but such is the rainforest!I actually began my journey in San Jose on Monday, August 17th. We spent two nights at El Sesteo Apartotel, and spent our time during the day getting to know our classmates (14 girls, 4 boys, I believe) from universities all around the country, and we had a chance to see the OTS facilities at the University of Costa Rica. We were evaluated on our oral Spanish skills and placed in appropriate levels for our Spanish instruction. Additionally, we reviewed the course syllabi for the semester and were debriefed on the different places we will be visiting. My next entry will review what I have learned so far about how AMAZING this semester will be.

Right now I am seated in the common room of a two story house next to the botanical gardens at the Las Cruces Biological Station. The ride here took seven hours from San Jose, but it was very pleasant. I did feel a little ill for a second as we went up and over gorgeous mountains covered in tropical vegetation because of the somewhat rapid elevation changes, but it was totally worth it because at one point we were even so high up on the lush mountain that we were literally in the clouds. Beautiful. But even more beautiful is the fact that I am literally living in a house nestled amongst the rainforest.

It is, of course, pouring rain, and I don't mind, because I got to use my new raingear and hilking boots. I used it to get from this dorm building (formerly a house belonging to a couple who originally owned the land) to the station’s dining hall, which served a most delicious lunch of beef strips, heart of palm cooked in tomato and onion, black beans, rice, and salad. We washed it down with passion fruit juice and topped it off with a slice of watermelon. Let’s just say it was super delicious and a sign of great things to come. The other food I have had here so far has also been equally tasty.

Also of interest, we got to see a poisonous snake that one of the resident biologists caught this morning not too far from the dining hall. It is called an eyelash pit viper, and the one she found actually has rare coloration and is bright yellow as opposed to dark brown, the more common variation.

Later on we will get a debriefing on what is featured in this station and what not, and then we shall have dinner. Then we will have a talk on risk management. Can't wait to share more!