Unfortunately, I don't have any photos to upload with this post today. I started my first day of classes today! I woke up around 5:40am this morning; felt relaxed and well-rested as usual but I wish I could've went back to sleep! My first class was from 8am-noon with a break from 10-10:30am (the reason this class is so long is because it's a Spanish class and it's only in session for one month, and then next month I start another Spanish class that will be 8am-noon & will last one month as well. They are called "intensive month" courses). That class is Intermediate Spanish for Healthcare Professionals. I LOVE THAT CLASS. It's going to be awesome! Even though I already have projects and exams scheduled, I can't wait. I am going to learn so much in that class, and it's something I can definitely benefit from! After that class, my roommate and I came home and made peanut butter and jelly on tortillas :D it was a little weird but pretty good! My second class was from 1-3pm, and it is Health Psychology. I enjoyed that class as well! My last class of the day was Alternative Health Approaches (aka Alternative Medicine) from 5-7pm. That is probably going to be my favorite class! I love all my classes and all my professors! Oh, and I also got my student ID from the university today as well!
The two afternoon classes are electives, so they are held every Tuesday/Thursday. The intensive Spanish morning classes are held Monday-Friday, but they only last one month each, like I said. So once March comes, I will only have the two afternoon classes. All my classes have field trips that are included. I can't wait to participate in those! One field trip is a two-day trip to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (for Alternative Medicine). I am really excited for that! Anyways, since my last class ends at 7pm and it gets dark here around 6pm everyday, the university has a shuttle that takes students home after dark. However, the house I am staying in is LITERALLY right around the corner from the school. It takes me less than 1 minute to get there in the mornings/afternoons. So I didn't want to be over-paranoid and take the shuttle around the corner, so I showed the driver my address and he just said that a security guard on a motorcycle could escort me home! :-) It was so cool! Three other girls ended up walking back to their houses with me, since there was a security escort. I felt pretty cool getting a security escort after class :-) I also found out that there's a girl in my class who lives right across the street from me!
I also had a meeting with the internship coordinator today. For those of you who might not know, I am also participating in an internship here in Costa Rica at a medical clinic. The internship itself isn't actually supposed to start until January 20th, but I need to complete 135 contact hours with the doctor, so I made arrangements and am able to start my internship earlier than that. I am going with the coordinator tomorrow around 2pm to have an orientation/meet the doctor at the clinic, and it's a possibility that I might be able to start interning on Friday! I am really excited! I got a white coat and everything :-) The coordinator told me that there is another girl in my program who is interning at the same clinic as me, but she isn't taking any classes. Hopefully I will get to meet her tomorrow!
The two afternoon classes are electives, so they are held every Tuesday/Thursday. The intensive Spanish morning classes are held Monday-Friday, but they only last one month each, like I said. So once March comes, I will only have the two afternoon classes. All my classes have field trips that are included. I can't wait to participate in those! One field trip is a two-day trip to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (for Alternative Medicine). I am really excited for that! Anyways, since my last class ends at 7pm and it gets dark here around 6pm everyday, the university has a shuttle that takes students home after dark. However, the house I am staying in is LITERALLY right around the corner from the school. It takes me less than 1 minute to get there in the mornings/afternoons. So I didn't want to be over-paranoid and take the shuttle around the corner, so I showed the driver my address and he just said that a security guard on a motorcycle could escort me home! :-) It was so cool! Three other girls ended up walking back to their houses with me, since there was a security escort. I felt pretty cool getting a security escort after class :-) I also found out that there's a girl in my class who lives right across the street from me!
I also had a meeting with the internship coordinator today. For those of you who might not know, I am also participating in an internship here in Costa Rica at a medical clinic. The internship itself isn't actually supposed to start until January 20th, but I need to complete 135 contact hours with the doctor, so I made arrangements and am able to start my internship earlier than that. I am going with the coordinator tomorrow around 2pm to have an orientation/meet the doctor at the clinic, and it's a possibility that I might be able to start interning on Friday! I am really excited! I got a white coat and everything :-) The coordinator told me that there is another girl in my program who is interning at the same clinic as me, but she isn't taking any classes. Hopefully I will get to meet her tomorrow!