While here in Costa Rica, I attend both the hospital and university for classes as being part of the Health Care in Latin America program. The hospital is in the main city of San Jose which requires me to take a bus from my host family’s house, which is anywhere from 20-35 minutes depending on traffic, and then a 10-15 minute walk to the hospital.
My Monday is off to an early start at 5:30 AM. It’s a bit too early for my liking, however I need to catch the 6:15 bus at the latest since my first class begins bright and early at 7:00 AM. It’s a class based on the sociology of health care and the various subjective perceptions on reality. My host mom packs my breakfast in a lunchbox for me and I take it along to eat after my class ends around 9:00 AM. Eating breakfast before the sun’s up is a little too early in the day for me, so I save it and munch on it later in the day.
My second class is at ULatina, the university near my homestay. Depending on how I’m feeling I either take the bus back home and take a nap or chill until my next class that starts at 1:00 PM. If I don’t go home, I go to the ICDS office which is a place where students from my program can go to hangout, do work, talk to program directors, or just chill at before class because it’s right by the university.
My second class is Spanish which lasts until about 3:00 PM. After that class, I have a little break until 4:30 PM, so I play ping pong with friends in the common area to kill some time. It’s a nice way to catch up with friends and have a little down time by playing a fun game. Then, at 4:30 PM I have my Economics class. This class ends around 5:30 PM and then I can finally go home! I walk back to my house which takes about 20 minutes. There’s a bus as well, but I prefer walking to save my money and also get some fresh air after a long day of classes.
On Tuesday I only have one class, Tropical Diseases, that starts at 8:00 AM. My breakfast routine stays the same because I still have to be up by 6:30 AM in order to catch the bus no later than 7:15 AM. It’s nice having an extra hour and then also being done with my day by 10:00 AM. Since I have that class in the city where the hospital is, I sometimes go shopping with friends or explore different parts of the city since I have more time in my day. Other days I’ll go home and get some work done or clean my room. There’s always something to do, whether it’s getting lunch, hanging out with friends, putting away laundry, or catching up on Netflix shows.
Wednesdays are the same as Mondays, and Thursdays are the same as Tuesdays. On Thursday’s, I have community work in the senior home along with two other students. We all get matched to different volunteer experiences and are assigned to go on Tuesday or Thursday from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. On Thursday, I hang out by the hospital and eat some snacks after my class is done around 10:00 AM and then take the bus around 12:45 PM to the senior home. We play games with the elderly, converse with them, paint their nails, create presentations, and so much more in order to connect with them in any way we can.
I have school Monday through Thursday and then get off for the weekend by Friday! It’s nice having a slightly longer weekend to go explore the different parts of Costa Rica when we’re not in school.
