One of the best 10 weeks of my life

I think the beauty of the internship program at ICADS is that it leaves the cultural training wheels on just long enough that, when you're basically on your own, you succeed more than you ever thought you could. However, like riding a bike, the training wheels stage isn't nearly as fun as it looks. Culture shock, at least for me, was a real thing, which made my first couple of weeks less pleasant. At times, I even wanted to go home. I think this had to do with the bugs in my bathroom, knowing no one when I arrived, and having trouble, at first, building relationships because of language difficulties. ICADS helped with this though, through really flexible and interesting language classes, excursions into San Jose and San Pedro to get our bearings, and even skits that clued us in on ways that Costa Ricans greet each other, which might be the most important tool for building relationships here!

Things got a lot better during the internship. I worked in a medical clinic north of San Jose, to which I commuted every day. It was an amazing experience. I rotated among different departments in the Clinic every week, like nutrition, the emergency room, the pharmacy, etc. The employees of the Clinic were really good to me! On my first day, I forgot my packed lunch, so the nurse I was shadowing that day took me to her sisters house for lunch. They fed me and introduced me to her sister's son, who was around my age, my first Costa Rican friend. Near the end of the internship, a group even threw me a surprise birthday party. I learned a lot and made some really great friendships. The things I learned was less hands on though. My role was basically to observe and help only with tasks that I knew how to do.