This week some of the field engineers had training on GE incubators so I joined them every morning. Although the training was online and the instructor spoke Spanish, the manuals and videos were in English so I was still able to learn a lot. The training included differences between versions, troubleshooting, repairs, ordering parts, and more.
After some of the training each day, I went to a hospital with another engineer. On Monday I went to the National Rehabilitation Center with Jairy and we worked on replacing the batteries in the GE Carescape V100 vital signs monitors. Tuesday I went to Hospital Mexico with Emanuel and Raquel. There were several GE MAC 2000 ecg machines that needed preventative maintenance. They showed me how to run the service reports and check the electrodes. Then while they cleaned them, I had to do the checks by myself. Afterwards, I was able to help fill out the maintenance reports (great way to practice more Spanish!)
Wednesday I was back at Hospital Mexico with Emanuel to work on a pulmonary bed. We determined it needed a new blower to control the air in the bed and a new railing cable that connects to the control screens on the sides of the bed. On Thursday I only attended the training, but on Friday I went to Cartago with Maria, Ailyn, and Laura to work on some Welch Allyn blood pressure cuffs.
This week I also had some fun after work plans. As a break from the gym, we started learning how to play padel which was so much fun! I love sports so I was really happy to be playing one again and I already started looking up places to play padel in Houston. I also watched some movies at night including A Walk to Remember and Inception.
Things I have learned
- The Giraffe Omnibed is different from the Giraffe Incubator because it has a heater and can control the temperature needed for the baby
- Spanish terms: fuera de servicio (out of service), dañado (damaged), esfigmomanometro (blood pressure cuff)
- Padel, a sport invented in Mexico, is a mix of tennis and squash where tennis rules are applied but the ball can bounce off the wall
- It is very difficult to find the location of the devices we need to work on in the hospital
Friday night after work, a group of us went to get sushi because it was half off. Jade and I shared the Spicy Shrimp, Tempura, Crab Cali, and Crunch rolls and they were so good! Since we were so tired from the week we decided to have a recharge day on Saturday. After sleeping in, we went to the gym and then bought more cakes from Dulce Chilena. I got the Torta Frambuesa (raspberry) and 4 Leches Maracuya (passionfruit). We also went to the mall to work at Starbucks and do some shopping.
Sunday we planned a trip to Heredia which is a city close to San Jose. We started the day with a Cafe Britt Tour. This one was a lot more fun and entertaining than the Starbucks tour. We also go to try several samples of coffee from various regions of the country. After we got lunch, I tried the traditional Costa Rican taco. The tortilla was rolled and fried with the meat on the inside and all of the toppings on the outside. It was very messy and interesting to eat but it tasted really good. At the restaurant we watched the UEFA finals game. Then we walked around the city and park before getting dessert. The place we went to had a line wrapped around the building. Jade and I split the granizado which had shaved ice, fruit, two milks, and icecream on top. It was very sweet but I really liked the flavors of the shaved ice. After that we went back to San Jose and then went to a sports bar for dinner to watch the Copa America finals game. As soon as I got back from the game I had to pack and get ready to work in Limon for the week.
