Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the full picture.

During our adventure down the coast, it became apparent that a little side trip to the Emergency Room was in order.  Never having been to a Costa Rican hospital before, we were a bit at a loss for words. So armed with our trusty medical translation guide for travelers, we ventured forth.

First there was the line to wait to tell them you were there (not to mention the fact that the majority of the people in the waiting room were wearing surgical masks which unnerved us all quite a bit), but we had to persevere so we waited.

Once through that line we were told to wait for someone at door B. So we waited. The doctor appeared and although she did not look a day over 15, she did an outstanding job with the “situation.” But before we could go we needed to go back in line to get a stamp on the prescriptions we needed. So we waited again.
We eventually got the stamp only to be told we needed to go around the corner to wait in line for someone to appear at the window. Given the fact that no one was even in the room which had the little window, we waited again. Finally someone showed up, only to manually and painstakingly type out in complete detail all that had transpired and to take
our money and of course get another “stamp.” Then we were told we needed to wait in line to give the prescription to the pharmacy people. Not noticing that we had to push a little doorbell to tell them we were there, we waited some more. Once the prescription was filled we were told to go back into the main waiting room and waited to be called from door A. This is a country where “waiting room” is taken to a whole new level!

The inefficiency drove us crazy but when all was said and done, it only cost $72.00 and they seemed to have done a fantastic job patching up our team member. What an experience!!!

Nine of us went down to help our partner organization, Funda Vida, serve the urban poor. We were there to help in whatever capacity they needed.  Funda Vida runs three centers in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. With over ¼ of Costa Rica’s population located in this city, and most of the more prestigious  tourist jobs,  are located along the nearby coasts, you get the picture. Since only 10% of Costa Ricans know English, and English is mandatory to get one of these jobs,  the poorest of the poor have very little chance of escaping their poverty. Funda Vida is attempting to change that.

Our task was not monumental, but simply to help give the centers a facelift with new paint and to work with the kids teaching English through art (okay, this last part was a little sketchy as most of us didn’t know enough Spanish to translate). But we had a great time with the kids, the parents and the staff at all three centers. In the end, it was us that were transformed from the experience.

I believe that when poverty has a face and a name, like the children and mothers that we met in San Jose, they are hard to forget and it compels us to continue to work on their behalf.

Re- entry Day 1

I woke up this morning to fog horns and the train whistle.   Ahhh,  it is great to be back in Edmonds.  Being home again made me realize that I was thankful for the little things here . . .

• Faucets with something resembling water pressure.
• Toilets that you could put toilet paper in AND it actually flushed.
• The lack of humidity.
• Cream in my coffee.
• A cockroach-free bathroom (especially since an unknown virus hit our entire team just as we arrived in Seattle).
• Gatorade.