Pura Vida Forever

After spending 57 days the phenomenal Costa Rica, It was time for me to depart.  My heart hurt as I left a piece of it in that country.  As I've said before, you get a strange feeling when you leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you'll never be this way ever again. We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic to creativity.  When we get home, home is still the same, but something in our minds has changes, and that changes everything. Check out a video from my trip here.

I was greeted by my parents and of course my adorable dog at home as I relaxed and started to unpack two months of my life.  I did four loads of laundry, and dumped everything out onto my bedroom floor not even sure where to begin.  So thus starts the search for what is next and where to next. I'm in no rush to figure everything out. I'm continuing to embrace the unknown and letting life surprise me.

Amo Este País

Day 50-55:
This week I found out one of my best friends that I've known since I was born had her baby girl, Hannah Grace! Congratulations Jenna! I cannot wait to meet her and spoil her!

I love clinic days. There are so many unique animals to get my hands dirty with.  Be sure to check out Kids Saving The Rainforest to see what you can do to help contribute to the Costa Rican wildlife.

If you look close enough, you can see my battle wound on my pointer finger.

Orphaned arboreal anteater 

Love this bird

We headed to Manuel Antonio this week for another stop at the natural park and some always needed beach time!

The next stop on our trip was to VIDA for some spay/neuter clinic time. I was fortunate enough to scrub in again and learn some more techniques to improve my surgical skills.

I can't believe this adventure is going to be ending in a few days. I'm not ready to leave the Pura Vida life just yet!

Bellisimo

Life List For Women Who Want To Embrace Life

Day 41 - 49:
This week in the bellisimo Costa Rica, we worked with the Costa Rican dog rescue, walking and bathing dogs.  I purchased a t-shirt to support the organization as well.  We later traveled to La Fortuna to one of my favorite locations with a phenomenal view.  I have been working with an amazingly talented equine vet doing lameness exams, doing ultrasounds and radiographs, cleaning wounds, and following up on old leg fractures and laminitis. We also got to do a little horseback riding luckily not in the rain.

Next stop is to Quepos where we will get to assist at the Kids Saving The Rainforest wildlife center and hopefully work up some fascinating cases of various species.

Tico Time

Round two!

Day 38-41:

We safely got our second group of students and are looking forward to doing all of the activities we loved and places we visited all over again.

This week, we "glamped" surrounded by that same, yet different, orchestra of the rainforest. Falling asleep to the rain and being awakened by several species of birds as well as howler monkeys.  Our activities included ziplining in the rain, white water rafting 22km (18miles!), hoof trims and injections on goats and sheep, boar semen collection, bovine injections, chicken egg collecting, and bovine palpations. We have already seen a snake as well as 6 sloths. 



Still loving and living it up in Costa Rica! Pura Vida!

Tuanis

"Tuanis" is used to denote a general sense of well-being.

Days 27-35:
There was all clinic day where we performed physical exams on various species, such as sloths, baby raccoons, a marmoset, an orange-cheeked parkeet, an amazon parrot, two baby Tamanduas (anteaters).  I was back in my element again!

We finally had a much needed beach day filled with surfing and sunburns. It was refreshing to be able to sit on the beach and soak in the moment. We walked over to Manuel Antonio National Park in the afternoon where we saw howler monkeys, mouthless crabs, white-faced monkeys, coatimundis, and raccoons.

 

We then traveled to San Pedro in order to work with VIDA and see how they ran things there. I was able to scrub in to do some of the spays. 

On Wednesday, our student left as we efficiently caught up on paperwork so that we could enjoy the next three days of our vacation until our next group comes.  We vacationed in Manuel Antonio in order to take advantage of even more beach time.  We also decided to visit the national park again and walk around all of the trails.  We even took a catamaran trip, complete with some snorkeling in order to become one with the sea again.

 

 We travel back to San Jose again because a new group of students comes tomorrow!  Here's to visiting some of my favorite locations again!

Llevarla suave

The expression "Llevarla suave" translates to carry it soft, or in other words, to take it easy.

Days 22 -26:
This week, we traveled from La Fortuna to Quepos.  I am staying in volunteer housing, a dorm sized room with no air conditioning on top of it being incredibly humid here.  The hotel is associated with a wildlife center called Kids Saving The Rainforest which was started in 1999 by 9 year old girls. It's a center that rescues, rehabs, and releases a large variety of wild animals.  They have some resident animals that include coatimundis, squirrel monkeys, spider monkeys, white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, parrots and parakeets, sloths, and many others.  We had the opportunity to do enrichment for these animals, as well as a necropies on a howler monkey and roadside hawk.

 

 

One of the days we were here, the students found an injured fiery-billed aracari with a right wing droop.  My colead and I caught the bird, I figured out the wing was broken, brought it into the clinic where it was given pain-meds, and then I wrapped the wing.  Unfortunately, the bird stressed itself over night and didn't make it.

My colead and I have been trying to plan out our vacation time in between our two groups. We don't have much planned yet, but we are looking forward to some beach time, drinks, nature hikes, and a whole lot of relaxation! Ciao!

Dream Job

Days 12 - 22:
There has been so much going on that I have barely had any personal time and when I do have time, being on the internet is the furthest thing from my mind. An occasional photo update is the closet thing I've gotten to being on any form of social media. 

 The food here has been nothing short of phenomenal; everything is so fresh, there is juice at every meal, and more of a variety than I expected. The people are incredibly friendly, but I do need to continue to practice the language. The birds and wildlife are so colorful and always around you.  We have been exposed to such a large variety of animals as boars, playing with chickens, spay/neuter clinic (where we unfortunately had two kittens pass away on us), physical exams and treatments on horses, horseback riding, nature hikes, hot springs, hammocks, and outdoor showers in the rain.  We even felt an earthquake at dinner the other right. It felt a little spine-chilling considering we felt it while facing an active volcano. 

I'm getting paid for this?

Outdoor showers in the rain 

 Arenal volcano from my hotel 

Am I really getting paid for this?

 Equine palpation

I'm in my element, exhausted, and couldn't be happier (although my students probably hate me after their exam). I'm fulfilling two of my passions in an extraordinarily gorgeous place.  It will be hard to go back home although I do miss my little pup!