Reporting live from Turrialba, Costa Rica! Big shocker, we’re on another Meditek trip this week. As per usual, here is your weekly recap:
We’re here in Turrialba to work at the brand new, unopened Hospital William Allen Taylor, which will soon replace the old one. GE sent out a warning that some of their SpO2 sensors could potentially alter the functionality of pacemakers; so, our first goal of the week was to find the faulty sensors and remove them from the hospital rooms. After we found all of the bad sensors, we spent the rest of the week checking all of the monitors, infant incubators, and beds to make sure that everything is in order before the hospital opens. This took a long time, since the new hospital is 5 floors tall with several departments. As for our side-quests, we went to the old Hospital William Allen Taylor to do maintenance on a stress test treadmill and on a x-ray printer. It was really interesting to see the differences between the old and new hospital: the old one is a lot more run down and is in the center of Turrialba, while the new one is well…new and is closer to the mountains.
The NEW Hospital William Allen
When we weren’t working, we spent a lot of time just hanging out with our coworkers. Most days after work, I went to the hotel’s restaurant with one of our supervisors and drank agua dulce while eating cookies and talking to the waitress, who was SUPER kind and welcoming. One of the things I will miss about Costa Rica is definitely the hospitality. I’ll also miss agua dulce — I’m hooked on it now. I am not, however, hooked on the gigantic bugs that live in Costa Rica that I’ve experienced this week. Illinois definitely did not prepare me for that :(. On Thursday, we did a Zoom call with the whole GMI class — those in Costa Rica and those back in the states — and it made me super excited to meet everyone that I haven’t already in Houston and start classes!
This weekend, we are up in the mountains near Poas Volcano to spend some time outside and do some hiking. Our Airbnb is surrounded by farmland, so there are lots of coffee farms, cows, and other farm animals.
View of coffee fields from the Airbnb!
Until next week, adios!