I finally started my placement in the Childrens Hospital. I had to wake up early to catch the bus so that I could be to work by 8am. I have to catch two busses then walk about three blocks to get to the hospital. My first day I was so nervous because it was the first time I was in a situation where noone spoke any english at all. When I got there I was paired with this girl from Switzerland who showed me around and helped me throughout the day. Our jobs are to look for children who are alone and keep them company until a family member arrives. My first day I was with the cutest little baby boy. I'm not sure why he was in the hospital but I had fun playing with him. Hospitals here are so different. The rooms usually have 5 or 6 children with no curtains or anything to separate the families, there is absolutely no privacy in the hospital rooms. A lot of the mothers asked my a million questions about my life and my studies and the states but I enjoyed the convo. My second day I thought I was going to die because I was put in the childrens play room by myself. It is difficult to handle a room full of children in general but having a language barrier made it even worse. I really thought about quitting this day lol. My third day was a whole lot easier because I was paired with the girl from Switzerland again. Her name is Romy btw. We were in the playroom again but it was a lot easier with her help. By thursday I was a pro. I had finally figured out the routine and I was a lot more comfortable communicating. This day I was paired with 6yr old boy who has leukemia. I was a lot of fun, he even helped me with my spanish. We read books and played games and had a great time together. He had been in the hospital for 7 mo. I felt so bad for him but he didnt feel bad for himself, I love that about him. Friday was a pretty slow and boring day at the hospital. Most of the mothers were there so Romy and I helped out in the laundry room.
I finally started my first class this week. It is my class with ticos. It is pretty interesting being in a class with native speakers. And it was very intimidating writing papers for a class with people who are way more advanced than you but it is also very exciting. It is a culture class so I'm interested in what we will learn.
This weekend we planned another trip, this time to Manuel Antonio. My roommate actually has a friend here in Costa Rica and his girlfriend invited us to hang out with her and her best friend. Manuel Antonio is beautiful. We went to the National Forest and we got to see sloths and monkeys in their natural habitat. It was pretty amazing. The forest opens up to the most beautiful beaches that you can only get to by walking through the forest. Que Linda! This weekend is the first time I had a discussion about using the term American. People living in Latin America believe it is disrespectful for people from the U.S. to call themselves Americans because they are American too. I understand their argument but I think we have a valid argument as well especially since our country's name is the United States of America. Besides it would be funny to call ourselves United Statesians? Que malo!
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