No Time Limits
I came to Costa Rica in hopes of dropping my love for research and focus only on the MD path I’ve always wanted to do but in reality it has only exemplified my love for research. After joining ASURE and TAing for the genome engineering lab I was certain I wanted to only do a PhD in infectious disease or in the realm of genetics. The last few weeks of my sophomore year I was going through an existential crisis because I was convinced I was losing myself and was no longer aligned with my goals and this led me thinking I was going to drop my passion for medicine.
As students we are required to know what we want to do with life in just the first two years of school, we are required to make lifelong decisions under the pressure of being able to afford a meal after college, except we don’t have to make these choices.
Being in Costa Rica, surrounded by people who are aligned with their passions and have been doing things at their own pace has made me realize I don’t have to choose. I’m 19, turning 20 in two months, I have so much time to decide on what I want to do for the rest of my life. Eric (s/o to you for grading these) took a three year gap before doing his masters and is able to do all the things he does because he lives at his own pace. Debbie, Dr. Libby’s wife waited until she was 30ish years to get married. Dr. Wasserman is however old he is and is literally on a month long trip doing what he loves. Age is not a limit to the things you can do, age just increases the opportunities you get to do all the things you love.
I think I am so worried about the longevity of a career as if time is the restriction I have. I think being here has allowed me to be more present and has allowed me to (for once) feel calm about being at my own pace. Everyone around me is doing what they love in a country that loves the environment and lives a slow-paced lifestyle.
I think I’m going to try doing MDPhD because I don’t have to choose what I want to do because I have no restrictions other than my own brain that is telling me I need to settle down and be out of school by 28 with a six figure salary.
La Foresta
We were living large. A hotel with AC and a hairdryer.The sleep I got at La forests is probably the best sleep I’ve had in my life. I don’t know if it’s because I was sleep deprived and slept throughout the night or because of the AC but whatever it was I felt refreshed and energized.
Kayaking day was amazing. A few of us kayaked in the mangroves and it was amazing being able to identify wildlife. I kind of understood what the author of Tropical Mature said when he meant that the forest is something too big to see when we first go, but that when we begin to understand the dynamics of the ecosystem we begin to see things. The amount of Jesus Christ lizards I saw was insane. I’m not sure if it’s because I am beginning to see the systems interacting or because the area is rich in biodiversity. According to Forsyth it is because I am learning (lol).
Anywho, the lizards were minuscule compared to the monkeys that literally jumped on our kayak. Crazy fun experience.
The flooding of La Fortuna deserves a subsection itself, but for the purpose of organization I will be including it in this subsection. We were eating dinner and got startled every time the thunder began to shake the entire rain forest. It was craziness. Before getting our desert the roof began falling off of the dinner area
A Whole Other Life
PIRO! The place was beautiful and sleeping under a net for the first time ever was an experience but I just wish the people were more welcoming. We got to help build a hachling for baby sea turtles.
Las Cruces
We arrived at Las Cruces on June 11th and the moment I stepped outside of the bus I felt… relief? The cold air, the trees, the garden… everything felt homey. I’ve been trying to find a place to apply to during my gap year for either an internship or just for a job outside of the country and I haven’t felt more connected to a place than here. I absolutely love it. The cabin felt like the cabins my family used to stay at in Lake Tahoe or Yosemite. It’s homey. The people are kind, the area is amazing. This place is phenomenal.
Speaking to the people of the Ngäbe Indigenous community I have never felt more conflicted. Part of me finds the beauty in the preservation of their culture but a big part of me feels anger that they have to fight for this. Publishing books about their culture should not be a problem. Getting resources and school supplies for children should NOT be a problem. Education should not be inaccessible. Children shouldn’t be sitting on the floor while they are being lectured. People shouldn’t be begging for their culture to be taught. Languages shouldn’t be going extinct. People shouldn’t be referring to themselves as museum exhibits for foreigners. People shouldn’t be calling themselves circus monkeys to the government. People should not be begging for help in educating youth.
I could go on about the translation but I respect the intention, therefore I’ll just discuss this in person.
Colorism as a result of colonialism runs DEEP in Costa Rica. A country so damn progressive about housing and the climate and healthcare should not be making education inaccessible to indigenous communities.
One of my favorite phrases is “La educación es poder” or in English, education is power. Depriving the Ngäbe community of education is depriving them of power.
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