Costa Rica: Study Abroad Experience @ewfrank-blog - Tumblr Blog

Overall

I learned so much about the health system in Costa Rica. 1 working person, can cover their entire families medical costs by only paying 10% of their salary. This means that there is more money being allowed to flow through the economy. Their employer has to cover about 30% of the cost and the government covers the rest. I think that the United States can really learn a lot from the way the Costa Rican health system is set up. The U.S.A. has a health system that isn’t so inclusive, but in Costa Rica children under the age of 12, pregnant women, and elderly over the age of 75 get free health care services. In the United States, even medical care for those groups of people can be so expensive, almost crippling to the family members. I think we could really learn a lot from the way Costa Rican’s live.

Day Ten: The Final Day

Today I spent whatever time I had, with my host family. We went out for some helados. We walked around the plaza, through the church, and we just talked and spent some quality time together. Leaving them was a little heart breaking.

In this picture, you can see my host brother Daniel, my host parents; Elizabeth and Julio. Their family relationship is so similar to mine in the sense that they argue in a loving, fun type way. Their family is also Catholic just like my mom.

Later we went on to visit a coffee farm. It was so nice to see and learn about how coffee is grown. Knowing where my coffee addiction originates was enlightening. I loved it.

Day Nine: What day is it??

Today we did a number of things. First we went to a senior home. I wish I had taken pictures with my phone but they’re all on a camera not owned by myself. Anyway I enjoyed that so much more than I expected. I got to have some in depth conversations with some of the seniors, and watching them get excited over a game of lotteria was so much fun.

After that we had a dance class where a Zumba instructor taught us how to dance: salsa, merengue, bachata, and cumbia. Their form of cumbia is so different from the way I know it. Something that really shocked me.

After the beach, we had dinner at a restaurant called “El Avion” which translates to “the plane.” The food was great, the view was even better. I’m not a big fan of sea food but I tried a little of the one my friend ordered and it was delicious. That day was so much fun.

The nature tour was over so we made our way to the beach. STUNNING. There were so many monkeys, lizards/iguanas, and even raccoons roaming the beach and interacting with people. The water was so refreshing. The best part about it... was getting stung by a jellyfish and having everyone tell me it was probably coral.

Day 8: Manuel Antonio

Today we had a beach day scheduled for us. That was about a five hour drive. About an hour and a half into the drive we stopped at a restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast we drove the rest of the way. Before heading to the beach, we had to talk a nature walk through the “forest preserve” where our tour guide educated us on the biodiversity of Costa Rica. He pointed out many creatures with such ease that it was almost a super cool thing 🤣

Day 7: Visiting EBAIS and UCR

Today we visited two different EBAIS, a more funded one and a lesser funded one. The EBAIS are as you would expect. A clinic looking building with waiting rooms, nurses offices, and doctors. The main difference is that they have rooms designated for a particular kind of medical condition; respiratory problems, diarrhea, pediatrics etc. After the EBAIS we visited the University of Costa Rica where we had a few minutes to tour the campus on our own before the presentation my a doctor there. He explained to us some of the research he does and the statistics of certain amenities in different regions.

After both of these events, I came to a personal conclusion. I realized that the owners of COOPESA and the orthodontist have something in common; they want to reach out to people and help them in any way they can, but they also want to educate them and help them grow. This made me think about what I want for myself whether it be personally, academically, or socially. I want to be a role model and a big influence. I want to help people so that they may grow to be a better version of themselves. But I also want to help myself grow. I want to be better both in my academic and in the social aspect of my life. But I also want to grow as a person. While I am still trying to figure out how to do all of that, I now know somethings I want to work on.

Day Six: COOPESA and the Orthodontist

Our first activity of the day was to visit an airline repair and maintenance company. This company is completely owned by its employees. There’s about 360 owners (all equal level owners and employees), and there’s about a total of 410 employees (same rank employees). I found this very shocking but also found it amazing. They were so family oriented and tried to accommodate to their employees as much as possible because they believed it would motivate their employees to do more and do better. In their case, this idea seems to be functioning very well. Later an orthodontist explain to us about her outreach program where she travels to indigenous populations to educate them about oral health and provide them with some material like tooth brushes and tooth paste.

To end our fifth night in Costa Rica, a few of us went out to dinner. We were able to enjoy each other’s company while dining on some food and enjoying good vibe music. This night really taught me about social responsibility, as I had to make sure everyone made it home safely. I had been warned about how dangerous it can be at night, especially for women walking alone.

Later in the day we paid a visit to Motiva, a breast implant company. They specialize in producing a real feel, comfortable for its user, breast implant for cancer patients. Although not all people who get the breast implants are cancer patients, those are the people they target. No pictures were allowed but we did get to see how things are done in their facility.

After the presentation by the male nurse, we had a medical doctor educate us on tropical diseases. Honestly the big take away from the presentation was, if and when one goes to a tropical area, they should try to avoid all contact with mosquitoes. Mosquitos are one of the deadliest animals in the world.

Day Five: Costa Rican Health

Today was an education filled day. We had a male nurse come and speak to us about the “Caja” which is the name of the health system established in Costa Rica.

Quick breakdown:

EBAIS are the formal names of the clinics throughout Costa Rica

ATAPS are nurse technicians that travel throughout the cities and visit people’s home to check up on every member, observe living conditions, administer vaccines if need be, and simply to remind people to visit the EBAIS

CCSS is the acronym for the Costa Rican health system

To end the day, we returned to our host families around 7:30 pm that afternoon. My host brother, Daniel, along with his older brother, Micheal, picked me up from the institute and drove me to where their family was. They were at my host mother’s, mom’s house in order to commemorate the anniversary of my host mother’s, father’s death. Their family was very welcoming and loving. I almost felt at home. ❤️

Finally the last activity we did at Pozo Azul was zip lining. Honestly zip lining was sooo cool. The view was so beautiful. It almost felt as though I was slowly flying through the forest and over the river. Scenery like I’d never seen before.

After horseback riding we went repelling, which for those of you who don’t know, is basically rock climbing but going down instead of up! It was a thrilling experience that got my blood pumping. Maybe I’m an adrenaline junkie 🤐

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Costa Rica: Study Abroad Experience