Costa Rica Day 5

It was the last day of clinic here in San Juan and tomorrow it'll be time to move onto Puerto Viejo for two full days of touring and the beach! Although I'm excited to explore and hopefully bungee jump, I'm also sad to be done with the first three days of clinic. Today at clinic we took the time to sit in a circle when the crowd died down and talk about the interesting things we learned. We talked about a lady who came in and had her tubes tied but still was able to get pregnant. We also talked about the health system here in Costa Rica and although it looks perfect on paper, here in this urban poor setting you could see the flaws and the suffering the immigrants of Costa Rica have to go through. One interesting thing that one of the translators, Matt, who is originally from California, mentioned was the connections between different parts of the world. I loved that he helped us notice that although we might think Costa Rica and the United States are very different places, we all have similarities as well. For example, we all have immigrants who are suffering from health are, we all have a desire to make use of emergency medical help, along with many other similarities. The beauty in the juxtaposition is also finding the not so noticeable similarities. As Matt phrased it, sometimes living in America, we forget about the rest of the world because we're so focused on ourselves. But there's a whole world out there for us to explore and understand! And it's important to discover the differences, but also the similarities between the cultures to really grasp the meaning of life. As we move onto Puerto Viejo, I'm excited to hold clinics in the country side. The leaders told us to expect a different type of poverty than the urban poor that we have been with for the first three clinics. After our night at the discoteca and the bar I think I've learned one main lesson, respect other cultures, especially when you're in their country. As the days go by, I make it a point to assimilate myself and not take away from the culture, but really put myself into it. I wish I could write more about the day and explain the last thought in more detail, but we have a long day of traveling ahead of us and I think it's just time for me to relax and go to sleep.
Quote of the day: “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon