Hot Springs?

The days seem to be going by faster and faster I even forgot to blog yesterday. It's possible that I might be going a 2-3 days without writing because I just get so tired at night.

Yesterday was the beginning of the change for the better at my placement. I played go fish, listened to music and played an English/Spanish card game. I also fed people, folded gauze and helped clear trays. I have this one lady that always tries to take care of me like a patient it's so cute! The past two days she has tried to take me to physical therapy. I have stopped by every day now to say hey to Olivia and now all of the people in physical therapy know me. The world cup is so huge here like I have mentioned before so everyone stops to fold gauze to act like they are doing something but just sit in front of the tv to watch. I wasted just enough time doing that to watch the US score the winning goal! I also really like the male nurses that work there. We swapped music and I translated their English songs into Spanish. They got a kick out of that. I think my translations were accurate or they are going to have a really skewed view of American music haha.

Our afternoon activity yesterday was salsa dancing. We started out with really simple moves that we were bored with, but once we combined them and put it to music it was a little trickier. Eric was my dance partner and I told him in the next few weeks we have to bust out our moves in a club or something. I also went to the gym to get a membership. It's so nice except for the fact they don't use air conditioning... and for those who know me well that's a bit of a problem for how much I sweat! It could be worse. ;)

At night Erin, Eric and and I went and saw Toy Story 3 in 3D. The line took forever! It was half price in 3D last night. Such a fun experience especially because the movie was in English with Spanish subtitles. I recommend it to anyone for sure.

Today, my day at the hospital was even better! Probably the best day yet. Of course, I started out with feeding people/clearing trays for breakfast, then I painted nails, played with clay, played Go Fish and that Spanish English game again. I'm getting a lot better at painting other people's nails ... not that painting nails is a terribly important quality to possess but hey, at least I'm getting good at something! There is a lady names Chonita, a nickname that means Carebear, and I just love her. When we were playing with clay she made these elaborate figures of a swan, pelican and I think a giraffe too. I was sitting next to her with an evil turtle-ish frog mess. She's such a sweetie with a great sense of humor. She is still not all there but I think has the highest cognitive abilities of most the patients.

Our afternoon was spent at the hot springs. It was great!...Except we didn't actually play in the hot springs but rather this cloudy crowded pool that we assumed was part of the hot springs but in fact was not. At the end we saw where you were supposed to go to chill in the hot springs little hot tubs. Oh well. We had a fun picnic before too watching the monkeys in their cages, the roaming peacocks and playing like kids on the jungle gym for over an hour. I also successfully avoided getting stung by bees! There were tons of them there.

Tonight was the last night we got to spend with Olivia. She leaves on Saturday to go back home and then back to her real home in Switzerland. I really don't want her to leave!! :(.. We had dinner at Tacocontento and came back for multiple rounds of catch phrase. Erin and I lost to Olivia and Eric. BOooo.

Tomorrow we go to our placements, then we will watch the World Cup with Olivia and bid her farewell. (ugh I hate goodbyes!!) Finally Erin, Eric and I will partake in our next adventure to the Pacific Coast for the black sand beach. It should be a good time. More on Sunday when we get back from our adventure. Until then, much love. XO Carolyn