January 21, 2011

Today, I had a doctor's appointment to address some minor health concerns and get some prescriptions refilled. After concluding our visit, my new health care provider (my former doctor just left for a 5 year missionary trip to Uganda) asked me what my plans were after school. I shared my good news about my externship in Costa Rica, to which she replied "You will love it there, I just spent the last four months there." (Preempting my apologies to the patients that had to wait a few extra minutes) I was able to spend 10 minutes gleaning important information from my new doctor. I asked about currency (they have their own, colon (colones plural) currently exchanges at around 520 colones per US dollar. I mentioned that several people have said how unsafe it was in Costa Rica, but my doctor stated that as long as I kept a level of security around me, just being smart, I would have no problem. She also stated that it didn't hurt that I was 6 foot tall and weighed more than 150 pounds. She told me that San Jose is set up like a wagon wheel, so from the city (the center of the wheel) you can travel out (the spokes) by bus (which is also safe, she said) and see attractions. She said her favorite place was the Central Market, which is a bustling, crowded market which offers fresh produce and leatherworks. Four months and counting....