Pádel week 🎾
I was pretty productive and accomplished a lot at the internship this week. I organized the suture threads and recorded their specifications and quantities in a table, drafted a technical method document, marked test samples, revised four technical documents and ten engineering drawings, and participated in a meeting with a supplier.
I was surprised to learn that all potential suppliers need to sign an NDA before the product conceptualization meeting, even if the meetings are just to explore better options regarding design, materials, and price. It challenged my initial assumption that companies would only share the design with the final supplier.
On Wednesday, my roommate Korie and two other interns from Esta went to play padel together. Padel is a pretty popular sport in Latin America and is similar to tennis. However, I had never played tennis before. Honestly, I was so bad at it. I didn’t know how to serve properly, nor even how to hit the ball. My friends tried really hard to unteach my badminton skills. I truly appreciated their patience and help me get better at it. I watched a lot of padel videos, so I did slightly better when we played again on Thursday. I knew how to serve and could at least hit the ball. I definitely need more practice before I can actually be a better teammate.😤
padel!
On Saturday, I got a haircut at Vainilla salon. I made an appointment in Spanish through WhatsApp with the help of DeepL. Until I walked into the salon, I realized my hairdresser didn’t speak any English. I was very nervous throughout the entire haircut because I wasn’t sure if I conveyed my ideal haircut with my reference pictures well to her. I think it ended up surprisingly good, but I’m just trying to get used to my shorter hair.
On Sunday, Korie, JJ, Jamali, Connor, Lewis, and I went to a nearby city called Heredia. Here was our itinerary:
- Went on the Britt coffee tour in the morning. Our tour guides were so funny. Even we’ve been to another coffee tour, this one was way more interesting. I highly recommend this coffee tour to anyone interested.
- Tried Costa Rican ham and cheese taco and ravioli at Taquería Fátima Cazús. Costa Rican tacos are crispy deep-fried tortilla rolls with lettuce on top, while the ravioli is a deep-fried pulled pork ravioli and lettuce sandwich. We also watched the Spain vs. England Euro Cup final there. It was such a great game. Every pass was so accurately planned.
- Walked around the central park and peaked into the Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción church when there was a Sunday mass.
- Tried “con todo” (granizado, dos leches, fruta natural y helado) at Heladería El Crucero. The direct translation means “with everything.” It had three flavors of slushie at the bottom, three types of fresh fruit slices, two types of milk (condensed milk and milk powder), topped with two big scoops of ice cream. It was for sure a cool tasting experience, but it’s too sweet for me. I don’t think I will try it again.
- Had dinner and watched Copa América final at a sports bar/restaurant called Tap House. The game was delayed, so we left at half game. Korie and I continued watching it after we got home. Argentina scoring a goal in the last 5 minutes of added time was wild!
Heredia
Costa Rican taco and ravioli sandwich at Taquería Fátima Cazús
Euro Cup🇪🇸🏴
“con todo” ice cream
Regarding my Spanish update, I finally started section 2 on Duolingo. One fun Spanish word I learned from talking with my coworkers is “chivo,” which means an outdoor live performance, but the word is only used in Costa Rica. When we were ordering tacos, the lady asked my friends, “¿Pagar por separado?” They didn’t get it, but I surprisingly did by recognizing “pagar” from Duolingo and guessing “sparado.” I usually needed my friends’ help to answer those additional questions while ordering. It was probably my proudest moment of my Spanish journey so far. Still, my Spanish journey is still long. I’ll keep updated my progress.