The Door Won't Close

Another weekend has passed by - far too quickly!

The remainder of the workday on Friday was quite regular and my evening was quite boring, as I just relaxed at home.  I went to work again on Saturday.  It was a decent morning, I picked up some yummy breakfast from Pola and got a bit of reading done.  Neither O nor J were at work, and I didn't see Sr. S either.  I was also without data service on my phone which made it even more "quiet" at work. My one random excitement of the morning was that when I paid for my food at Pola I got 2 of the new 20 peso bills in my change!  They are really cool, they feel very plastic-like and have a see through part (as demonstrated by me in the following picture).  They were just recently put into circulation.  I had only seen one prior to receiving mine.

After work, I met up with Ozumy, Paula, Pavol and Maria.  Ozumy was taking us as her guests to a sort of Doctor's Club.  A restaurant, pool, etc. that is exclusively for doctors and their families.  Ozumy, Paula and I went first and had a quick lunch at the restaurant.  Ozumy ordered me a cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwich.  It arrived with ham too.  So that was sent back and I had to sit and wait for the proper sandwich to be made while Ozumy and Paula enjoyed their meals.  When it did arrive though, I enjoyed it a lot - I was suprised by how inexpensive the sandwich and juice were.  Pavol and Maria came a bit later and met us at the restaurant, although they didn't eat.  Maria had brought food with her and Pavol is doing a "detox" so he isn't eating for 3 days...  We then went out to the pool and took in some sun and enjoyed the water.  At first, I stayed out to tan, while the rest of them went in.  I also wanted to get some reading done too.  While sitting there, sunning and reading, this guy came up to me and asked me a question in Spanish.  I told him that I didn't understand Spanish, and he then says, "Do you work here?"  I replied no.  He then took off and ended up talking to the lifeguard and I think was asking him if they could use the diving board.  I was rather amused that he could have thought that I worked there.  Especially after I said I didn't speak Spanish...  He may have just been trying to talk to me, but it didn't seem that way. 

I decided it was too hot and thus time for me to get into the pool.  I went over to take a shower first and there were these two very cute little girls also taking a shower.  They were rather intrigued by me and started talking to me.  I said in my best Spanish, "I'm sorry but I don't understand Spanish." The youngest one seemed confused, so I said, again in Spanish, "I speak English." She was still perplexed by this, but then the other one asked me in Spanish if I was American, I said no, Canadian.  Then they got excited and started telling me something about something about Canada.  Of course it was all in Spanish.  It was adorable, but I felt bad because I couldn't talk to them.  The pool water was quite warm, but it at least felt better than being out in the sun.  I was kind of surprised by the quality of a few of the pool amenities.  Including the diving board, which is obviously not safe to use (pictured).  There is a big difference between doctors here and doctors in Canada.  One of the guys at work, V, was telling me about how his father was a doctor.  He was asking me what it is like to be a doctor in Canada, in terms of hours and money.  I told him that the hours were rough but that they make quite a bit of money.  He said that when he was young, his dad was never home as he was always working extra shifts just to make enough money.  This, of course, seems odd to me since doctors are an essential service - it only seems natural to me that they are paid well for the amount of responsibility and knowledge they have along with the long hours and stress they deal with.

Anyway, after the pool I did some work on my computer, made dinner and then had date night with Bart.  He had found a new website with some cool games.  We tried playing those at the end, but unfortunately, since my internet speed is so slow, a few of the games were difficult to do because of the reaction speed of my computer.  It was still fun though.  One is like pictionary online.  Bart was having some issues with it though since his laptop's trackpad is not as good as mine.  We played again the next night, when he had a mouse and his drawing ability did improve slightly...

Sunday was spent cleaning.  I washed sheets and some other laundry, cleaned the bathroom, swept my floors, tidied up, etc.  I also finally got around to polishing my poor black flats.  I'm just hoping they will last me until the end of this internship - although I am doubtful.  The toes are very scuffed and the sole is just starting to come loose.  Although, given the conditions they are put through, I'm surprised they haven't totally fallen apart on me already!  I assume they will need the assistance of a shoe repairman soon...

Today has been frustrating for me again.  Not sleeping well (heat), waking up with a sore neck, and not having data services again were just a few of my issues.  I feel like I've been in a daze all morning, not really being able to focus on anything.  My carrito ride was in what seemed like the smallest car ever.  The driver didn't give me my change (5 pesos) because right after I gave him my money, 3 other people handed him 100s and 50s.  So he kind of got distracted and I just didn't have the energy to deal with getting my change.  Then, we were nearly at my intersection when we picked up this couple.  He went to get in the front and she was going to go into the back, but the driver was like no, the other way.  Then he proceeded to get out of the car and attempted to close the door for the lady who was now getting into the front.  The lady in F1 was like, this isn't going to work - the door won't close!  The door was difficult to close to begin with.  It appeared to need to be lifted up while closing.  Anyway, the F2 lady was a bit on the heavier side and the driver could not get the door to close.  So both the man and the woman got back out.  Since the man was a bit smaller than her, he fit better in the front (which is what they tried to do at first anyway!) and the lady got into the back with us.  I was in B3 and the larger lady was in B4.  Fun.  And then when I went to get the driver to stop, I said, "Cuande Cruco" instead of "Cuando Cruce."  Ugh.  the driver still got what I was trying to say but the F1 lady was confused and it seemed like she was trying to turn around to get a good look at the idiot in B3 (me). 

So far, it has been a slow day at work.  Everyone seems tired.  Especially O, who was doing his 'sitting looking like he's working' sleep pose.  I was telling Paula about this, and I said how I wish I could sleep while sitting up, but that I'm a head bobber.  Paula says that in Costa Rica, when you see someone doing this, you ask them if they are fishing, "estas pescando?"  I like this. 

My plan for the remainder of the day is to work, obviously, and then head home and get as much sleep as possible and to try to stay cool!