I can’t believe it’s already Week Six of my time at Hospital de Niños! Last week we sat in on Dr. Bogantes’s outpatient consultations again, but this week we’re back to inpatient. Both of these experiences are great, but I do prefer going around the hospital because we get to see a variety of cases. Most of the outpatient consultations are routine checkups so some of the cases can get repetitive. Unfortunately, our cadaver sessions will be moved to next week because Dr. Bogantes is extremely busy, so I’ll be looking forward to that next week.
Over the weekend we went to Cartago to see a friend we met during the Innovation Bootcamp, Erick. He recommended that we go to the UCR botanical garden, which was absolutely incredible! It really made me wish I’d studied botany during undergrad. We went to see the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles, which was an enormous church built in the middle of the city, and I experienced my first Catholic mass. The highlight of our day was trying Pollolandia:a Costa Rican fried chicken fast food chain. Apple, Alex, and I pass by many Pollolandia shops on our commute to the hospital, so we finally decided to try it — and it was pretty good!
At the UCR Lankester Botanical Gardens
Inside the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles
Delicious Pollolandia
Our friend Erick took us to see Cartago’s natural beauty on Sunday. We visited the Volcán Irazú national park, which was at such a high altitude that we had to wear hoodies because it was chilly! I have to say, I really do miss cooler weather, so I was enjoying it as much as I could. Afterwards we hiked up the Prusia sector of the park, which was pretty steep but had a rewarding view. Although the scenery was incredible, I have to say that the highlight of this day was having olla de carne for lunch: a traditional Costa Rican soup made of vegetables and stewed beef. It really reminded me of the soups my parents made when I was growing up, so it was a nice little taste of home.
Me, Apple, Alex, Connor, and Erik at the volcano!
The view from our hike in the Prusia sector of Volcán Irazu National Park.
Connor and I enjoying olla de carne together!
While it was a fun weekend, it was also a very tiring weekend. I’m hoping to get more rest this week to prepare myself for some new adventures!
Best, Rei