Thankfully, we´ve been super lucky so far on our travels not need any sort of medical care. We were long overdue for a good teeth cleaning though, so we decided to try our luck at a local dental clinic. We had seen one situated in a small town about 15 minutes from us, next to our favorite pizza place, so that seemed as good a sign as any to choose that clinic.
We walked in for our appointment and as usual, things are running on Tico time so we had plenty of time to strike up a conversation with the receptionist. She was a Nicaraguan who had moved to Costa Rica with the hope of making more money to send back to her children who were living with her mother. Not five minutes into the conversation, she was baring her soul to us. It was great to have a truly candid conversation with someone from such a different background, not only to learn about her life, but to get a different perspective on the project we are working on here. If she could bring her family down here to live with her, these are exactly the type of hard working families that we would like to be helping. She brought up some interesting questions and concerns though that can be used help us to improve before our next project.
The other patient then came out of the exam room, in one piece and looking happy enough, so we figured things couldn´t go too bad. The dentist was super nice and started the cleaning innocently enough. Next thing we know, he had placed a towel over our face and chest and proceeded to start sand-blasting our mouths with baking soda. If you have ever been out on the beach when a huge gust of wind picks up and you feel the sting of the sand against your legs, you can begin to imagine this, but then transfer that feeling to your tongue and lips instead. When he finished, despite the best intentions of the towel, our faces were covered in a thin-film of baking soda. Certainly an interesting experience, but short-lived enough and well-worth the sparkling clean teeth afterward.
Big smiles,
Team Wander
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Los Estados Unidos
Sorry, apparently we forgot to post this when returned, but here it is now...
Whew, we made it back to the land of rice and beans after a whirlwind of a trip to the US. As some of you might have heard, Leslie´s grandmother died suddenly on September 30th so she had to make a quick trip to Florida that weekend for the funeral. Traveling started by leaving the house at 3am to catch a bus to San Jose airport. Everything went smoothly until arriving in the US where the custom´s officers played 20 questions about anything from being out of the country too much to not having enough luggage. It was all worth it though because the service went really well and it was fantastic to have all our family together.
Leslie flew back to Costa Rica the following Wednesday only to fly back out on Thursday morning. We spent Wednesday night with some friends who live near San Jose (Jessica, they may be our toughest Boggle competition yet). We left our car at one of their friend´s houses whose German shephard had puppies about 3 months ago. Three of the were quickly growing as you would expect, but the runt of the litter had barely changed size at all. She was a tiny ball of fur and the cutest thing ever. We´re not sure if she´s ever going to grow, but it took every ounce of our strength to walk away empty-handed when he offered her to us.
Next we made it to DC to spend some time with Miah´s mom and for him to take the GRE. Our first day there was a blast, we took a bike tour around the Mall (the best way to see the sights), visited the Smithsonian, and ended the day with a night-time boat ride up the Potomac. In between test taking and essay writing the rest of the weekend, we managed to cram in tons of good food.
One of the most interesting things we saw in DC was the solar decathalon taking place on the Mall (http://www.solardecathlon.org/). There were 20 universities competing for the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. All the houses were less than 800 square feet, so not only was the environmental impact of the houses amazing, but so was there innovative use of space. We learned so many neat things, we´re ready to build our own house now. Here are a couple pictures of
the houses:
Love to all,
Team Wander
Whew, we made it back to the land of rice and beans after a whirlwind of a trip to the US. As some of you might have heard, Leslie´s grandmother died suddenly on September 30th so she had to make a quick trip to Florida that weekend for the funeral. Traveling started by leaving the house at 3am to catch a bus to San Jose airport. Everything went smoothly until arriving in the US where the custom´s officers played 20 questions about anything from being out of the country too much to not having enough luggage. It was all worth it though because the service went really well and it was fantastic to have all our family together.
Leslie flew back to Costa Rica the following Wednesday only to fly back out on Thursday morning. We spent Wednesday night with some friends who live near San Jose (Jessica, they may be our toughest Boggle competition yet). We left our car at one of their friend´s houses whose German shephard had puppies about 3 months ago. Three of the were quickly growing as you would expect, but the runt of the litter had barely changed size at all. She was a tiny ball of fur and the cutest thing ever. We´re not sure if she´s ever going to grow, but it took every ounce of our strength to walk away empty-handed when he offered her to us.
Next we made it to DC to spend some time with Miah´s mom and for him to take the GRE. Our first day there was a blast, we took a bike tour around the Mall (the best way to see the sights), visited the Smithsonian, and ended the day with a night-time boat ride up the Potomac. In between test taking and essay writing the rest of the weekend, we managed to cram in tons of good food.
One of the most interesting things we saw in DC was the solar decathalon taking place on the Mall (http://www.solardecathlon.org/). There were 20 universities competing for the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. All the houses were less than 800 square feet, so not only was the environmental impact of the houses amazing, but so was there innovative use of space. We learned so many neat things, we´re ready to build our own house now. Here are a couple pictures of
the houses:
Love to all,
Team Wander
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