Hello! My name is Jhalak Mehta and this is the beginning of my blog posts about my time in Costa Rica for the GMI program. I am from Chicago and recently graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. The month of May was definitely bittersweet with graduation and saying goodbye to my friends and family to start an exciting new chapter in my life. I had about two weeks to prepare for my time here in Costa Rica and spend as much time as possible in Chicago before leaving for Houston.
Howdy Houston
My arrival in Houston was only a couple days ago but feels like a lifetime ago. The GMI group was thrown into the deep end when one of the first tasks at orientation was to complete an innovation challenge on building a device for measuring the degrees of pronation and supination. The GMI group spent the rest of the orientation doing some research on Costa Rica, and took some the time to really get comfortable with each other and Dr.Wettergreen before flying into another country for two months where we only know each other!
Pura Vida!
The GMI group in front of a zebra butt the night we arrived in San Jose
When we first arrived in Costa Rica, it felt very calm. There wasn’t much hustling and bustling when we left the airport, and while I had heard horror stories about the traffic in San Jose, the ride to our hotel felt pretty smooth and timely. Our taxi driver was a talented man who did a phenomenal job playing suitcase Tetris with our giant luggage. After arriving and settling in Hotel 1492 and shouting “Pura Vida!”, we made our way to Saul, a restaurant nearby our hotel. On our walk there, we got a taste of the active nightlife in San Jose, we passed many open bars and restaurants with music along the main street. It was interesting to observe that most people do not follow the pedestrian signs or the signal. I later learned that in Costa Rica red lights are considered the same as stop signs where drivers stop and decide when it is the right time to go, and stop signs are considered the same as yield signs. When there is both a stop sign and a signal, then drivers should wait until the signal is green before proceeding (good thing I will not be driving here anytime soon). At the restaurant, I tried mango, pineapple, and coconut Fresca which are very famous here in Costa Rica. After a very long and tiring day, we were excited to head back to our hotels and relax. There were certain issues the GMI group had to deal with before we got a goodnight’s rest such as ants on our bed and mold on our pillows. After a tiny little adventure and bonding moment with the group, we finally got a new room and settled in before our exciting weekend ahead.
Day 1
Asma, Katy, and I at the farmer’s market enjoying coconuts and empanadas
Feeling well-rested, Dr.Wettergreen and the GMI group walked to a Saturday farmer’s market which was about a 25-minute walk from the hotel. The farmer’s market was a long strip of different fruits, vegetables, and snacks such as empanadas, tamales, and cheese. After the long dehydrating walk, I had to try coconut water. The man selling us the coconut water understood that we were tourists because we were speaking in English, and we somehow managed to bargain the price of the coconut up instead of down. He started by telling us that the price is 200 colones per coconut and ended up charging us 350 colones per coconut. We might get better at bargaining overtime especially because we are soon going to buy many groceries to sustain ourselves here. Regardless, the coconut water was refreshing and I got to eat the white meat of the coconut called the copra. We also tried an interesting knotted ball of cheese which was basically string cheese but very hard to pull apart, called Queso Palmito. We will definitely be coming back and buying more fresh produce in the upcoming weeks. The rest of the day was very relaxing. We unwind at the hotel after an exhausting walk back (we will get used to the walking eventually). After relaxing, we took a spontaneous trip to a local coffee shop, Cafeoteca, before shopping at Walmart for many of the essentials I needed such as shampoo, sunscreen, bottled water, towels, and bug spray. For dinner that night, we went to a nearby restaurant on the main street. Katie, Raniyah, and I ordered a huge taco which was far too big to fit in our mouths but it was delicious.
Trip to Jaco
The next day, the group took a fun little trip to Jaco! It is a beach town to the west of San Jose and takes about 2 hours on a bus. I got a better view of the beautiful mountains (for the portions I was awake in) on our bus ride there. Even though we had to catch a 7am bus, it was well worth the early rise once we got to Jaco. We had a delicious Puerto Rican breakfast consisting of Gallo pinto, fried plantains, eggs, cheese, and Costa Rican coffee at Koko Gastro Pub. The plantain was absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to try different types of plantains at different restaurants. We also spotted an Iguana while at the restaurant! The water temperature at the beach was just right and very refreshing, but the sand was so hot we could barely walk on it. After spending a couple of hours at Jaco, our mostly sunburnt and tan bodies took the bus back to San Jose. That night, we had an exciting dinner with the Rice undergraduate at Lolita, a nearby dining hall. We chit-chatted with the undergraduates while eating delicious pizza and we ended the night with some Gelato!
Breakfast at Koko in Jaco with Gallo pinto, eggs, plantain, cheese, and coffee
Kaira and Haruto against the strong tides at Jaco
Asma, Katy, Raniyah, and I at Jaco waiting for our smoothies
Sloth Day
Monstera Deliciosa Fruit we tried at the tour
Baby Sloth preparing for his weekly pooping time
The tiring weekend did not stop us from exploring the rest of the city on Monday. Some of us took a walking tour at the University of Costa Rica. During the tour, we were lucky to see many animals that are difficult to spot in a city. We saw frogs, leaf-cutter ants, carpenter bees, sloths, bird nests, queen of the night flowers, and tickle-tickle plants that close up when we touch them. We even had the opportunity to try a fruit called Monstera Deliciosa which tasted like a banana but much sweeter. It was interesting to see a wide variety of wildlife in the middle of a university. Along with interesting facts on Costa Rican wildlife, we learned about the generosity of the Costa Rican education system. The cost to attend a public college in Costa Rica is only $600 per year, and most of the time (depending on the family’s financial situation), living, food, transportation, books, and other fees are fully covered. The highlight of our tour was definitely the sloths, and we had the rare opportunity to see a baby sloth make its weekly journey down the tree and take a 2-3 pound dump by the tree. Our little friend received quite the attention today and I hope that he did not mind us invading his privacy. The tour was very fulfilling and even though it was only a couple hours, we were drained. We rested back at the hotel before walking around Escalante for our dinner.
The past few days were definitely non-stop. Along with meeting the rest of the group for the first time, traveling across countries, settling in, dealing with a cultural change, and touring Costa Rica as much as possible, we have to be mentally prepared for the upcoming intense medical innovation and clinical needs Bootcamp. I am looking forward to meeting and working with fellow Costa Ricans and the Rice undergraduates. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for us and what adventures we take on!
Stay tuned for the next post 🙂
Pura Vida,
Jhalak