Pura Vida! (pure life)

Well, I made it back from Costa Rica. I really had a great time serving and meeting pretty much everyone (including those coming from the States) for the first time. From the States, we had 1 doctor, 2 dentists, 2 nurses, 2 pharmacists, 1 pharmacy tech (and mayor), 1 teacher, and me. We arrived at different times into Alajuela (near San José) Wednesday evening. We were meeting up with a church that is eager to have their entire congregation known as those who serve others in the name of Christ. One of their particular locations of interest is a church on Isla Venado (Deer Island). Costa Rica's government has done what seems to be a good job in providing electricity and clean water to a majority of the country, including this island. Therefore, we knew there would be electricity and clean water, but stores in which to purchase supplies would be limited. That Thursday, we went to a local supermarket and purchased several supplies. It was good for me, because I was sent off by myself to find items...it gave me a way to practice and learn some new Spanish!

Later that evening, we met with the church there in San José (or somewhere around there) and they had prepared food for us...it was amazing! They all were so hospitable and nice to us. Some of them were going to join us on our trip. Included on their team were a few extra doctors, dentists, and nurses.
Well onto the part concerning our time on the island. We left early Friday morning by car and traveled around 2 hours to Puntarenas, a strip of land jutting out from the Costa Rican mainland. From there, we took a ferry across to Playa Naranja on the peninsula west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean. Getting back in the cars, we drove about 20-30 minutes to a little landing where fishing boats were waiting on us. Those boats took all of us and our luggage across the island.
Once on the island, (we were going to be sleeping in the church building), we began setting up in a few different buildings in order to accommodate for dental equipment, rooms where patients could get a physical evaluation, an area large enough for a pharmacy and evangelism, and a location for bible school for the children. We worked all afternoon, evaluating the patients' health, pulling teeth, treating patients, giving them medicine for healing, and sharing the good news with them. For dinner that night, the preacher's wife and some ladies with the church cooked us the staple food from the island, seabass, and it was so good! See, fishing is a main source of food and income on the island, but fishing has been bad recently. With this area being a common route for drug traffickers going between South and North America, it's very easy for the locals to be bribed into aiding the traffickers for the simple reason that they need supplies, and the traffickers give them a means to an end, since fishing is down now. It's a serious concern for the people there.
That night, you could literally see lizards crawling on the walls and ceiling around the entire interior of the church building where we were sleeping. But despite this, I slept well.

The next day we saw more of the people on the island. Some of the most common medications handed out were vitamins, anti-parasite pills, allergy medications, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, Zantac, and a variety of antibiotics. I was able to brush up on the limited Spanish medical language I know when writing prescription label directions for the patients.
Now, with this being the first trip I've been on that was strictly a medical mission effort, spending all of my time in the pharmacy was a difficult thing, knowing that there was a Bible school full of kids going on a few yards away. Kids, especially in places like this island, can really bring a smile on your face when you already have a lot on your mind. I remember I felt really nauseated that morning, so I took a break from the pharmacy, walked around a bit, and finally decided to go spend some time with the kids. I promise not 5 minutes after I got there, all feelings of nausea left me. The kids spent a lot of time making crafts that were connected to Bible stories and did a few memory verses. These kids were so smart, too! It took them no time to learn the verses.
Over the day and a half we were on the island, we treated people about 350 people. I remember hearing a few stories of how some people had dealt with particular pains for years, and were now gone. I remember hearing how some of our doctors and dentists spent some late nights helping people figure out what was going wrong with their bodies. Needless to say, I think everyone rested well that night. Apparently I was sleeping so well, everyone wondered (jokingly) if I had died.

The next morning, we joined the church in worship. The entire church went to the front of the building and sang a song about friendship to us (not totally sure...couldn't understand pretty much all of it), then the kids went up front to sing to us. It was really touching, especially to those who could understand. I saw several of our friends from the church in San José crying. I went with the kids to their Sunday school, where they learned about Jonah and the whale. Afterwards, they all took turns hitting a piñata, which was great fun, because every kid who wanted to hit got to...finally we just broke it open for them!
Remember how I said I felt nauseous on that one day? Well, I felt bad again on that Sunday morning, too. It finally clicked as to what was happening. I had brought some doxycycline tablets with me (an antibiotic that can have some protection against malaria and traveler's diarrhea). I've taken the capsule form before, with no problems. But I took these tablets too far away from when I had eaten, and it made me very nauseous (it helps to take them after eating something). The nausea was so bad on Sunday, however, that I had to take a sublingual hyoscyamine tablet (which can ease stomach tremors), and that made me feel better. Therefore, lesson learned about how my body handles doxycycline tablets.
After many goodbyes, we packed up and left the island. One thing I do regret is that I had brought a couple of soccer balls for the kids, but never got to play any soccer with them! Hopefully they're having a good time with them, though.

While riding the ferry back across the bay, we all witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets ever. Here's a picture
We arrived back to the Alajuela with few incidences. The last full day we were in Costa Rica, we wrapped up the trip with a little sightseeing at a volcano and at a place called La Paz (if you ever go to Costa Rica, you should visit this place!!) It was an amazing way to witness and thank God for His creation and all of the beauty and variety that exists in it.

Well, I guess I could've written about this trip any number of ways, but I wanted to avoid being too detailed (which is hard for me to avoid haha), while giving you a good sense of what God was able to do on this island through us. It was a wonderful trip, and I hope one day I can visit this island in Costa Rica again. There are several people from the States and Costa Rica I wish I could talk about, but it would at least double the size of this post, so I'll end it here.

P.S.: pura vida is a common phrase spoken by Costa Ricans...and maybe other Central American countries, but I don't remember hearing it in Honduras. But it does have some meaning to me, because when I have experiences like this, they seem so pure, and I believe it's these experiences we should cling to as we live our lives so we can remember the peace and comfort God's Spirit gives us as we serve others in His name.