Costa Rica: Intro to Pre-Med & Public Health Session 1, 2026
June 24, 2026
Hey everyone, we finally settled in and are getting used to Costa Rica. Yesterday we got to Costa Rica at about 7:30 with Diego and Alyssa, we then met Rebecca and Marcela and got driven to the hotel on a really cool looking bus. We got Papa Johns Pizza for dinner and played ping pong to end the night. Everyone was super tired, so we got ready for bed early. We started off this morning with a traditional Costa Rican breakfast consisting of beans, platanos, eggs, and more. It was super good. Shortly after breakfast we took a tour around the Honeybee Hotel and learned all the interesting facts about the Mariolia bees and the honey they produce. We even got to taste this honey, it was delicious. After learning about the bees we learned about all of the different fruits and tasted them. We had a lot of mango that we pulled down from the trees and we even ate leaves with sea salt! Then, we played games in the backyard. They were super fun and bonded us as a group. We went to lunch at a local Costa Rican restaurant in Alajuela (you will see a picture of us there). After lunch, we went on a scavenger hunt. During the scavenger hunt, we had to talk to locals in Spanish, which gave us great practice for the upcoming days. After that, we headed back to the hotel and had orientation, where we discussed rules and expectations for the trip. We all signed a contract (a volleyball) and passed it around to make it official. Lastly, we had a very yummy home-cooked meal consisting of rice, chicken, salad, mashed potatoes, and more. We ate all together at a table outside to wrap up the fun day! Talk to you tomorrow!
By Ellie and Leila
June 25, 2026
We got up bright and early at 6:15am, and packed up our bags and some sandwiches for the road. Sebastian took it upon himself to stack five sandwiches on top of each other to make a jumbo sandwich, and no one batted an eye. After our three hour bus ride consisting of Drake and house music, we pulled up to the glorious sight of rafts and instructors waiting to send us down the river. After a safety instruction, we loaded into the rafts and headed downstream. The trip started off nice and smooth and soon spotted the first set of big rapids ahead. Anderson took one look and confidently said, “Nah, this will be chill.” Safe to say, he was a little too optimistic. As we hit the rapids, the right side of the raft dipped into the water, giving Anderson, Faith, and Kate an unexpected splash and leaving everyone laughing. After making it through, we continued floating down the river without any other excitement. Along the way, we stopped to admire the wildlife, spotting sloths, a couple of geckos, and vultures. We wrapped up our trip sharing a new experience together, and dripping wet with river water. We got back on the bus and drove 20 minutes to our lunch destination where we had rice, beans, chicken, and other delicious food. After the meal, we headed to Casa Crisley–a family owned and operated farm/hotel–which will be our home for the next four nights. We swam and talked about our lives back home, got our makeup done beautifully by the local kids, and ate another classic Costa Rican dinner. The boys showed up to dinner with mascara streaked on their face. Finally, we closed our night with a good laugh as we all made skits and had a competition for the best one. Sebastian, Mia L, and Ellie took gold with strong performances from other groups.
By Anderson and Mia S.
June 26, 2026
Dear Diego,
Since you asked about our day today, here’s a complete rundown.
We woke up in the freezing cold this morning-something we never expected to feel in Costa Rica. We had all accidentally set our thermostat to below sixty degrees Fahrenheit, so our first task this morning was to bundle up in sweatshirts and sweatpants. Our second– and much messier– task was to head over to the farm to milk the cows. . . with the reluctant inclusion of Sebastian and Jacob, who couldn’t get past utters. Using our fresh milk, we practiced wrapping cheese balls, which were delicious!
We had a complete tour of the farm, tasting the fresh produce, with the help of Crisley’s machete. After a delicious lunch and a few heated rounds of spoons between Faith and Mia S, we started our WFA (Wilderness First Aid) training. In training, we learned how to use CPR on everyone from unconscious hikers to baby mannequin Justin Bieber.
After a few very intense boys vs. girls volleyball games between Maddie, Anderson, and the rest of the group, we chilled in the pool with the aid of Jacob’s speaker. We passed around a football with Manfred, a kid living in Casa Crisley. Between Faith searching for the farm’s cats, Mary Chandler’s impressive football skills, and Mia L’s uno victory, it was a day full of excitement.
How was your day?
Sincerely,
Mia L and Maddie
June 27, 2026
We spent the day doing our WFA training. We had all been missing pancakes and we’re thrilled to wake up to the sweet smell of bacon and corn pancakes. Although the training was a long process the leaders made it exciting with a lot of hands on scenarios. Some highlights were strapping Mia and Anderson to backboards to represent spine injuries, creating fake cuts with colored water to practice closing wounds, and getting Sarah, a girl who lives on the farm, to help us demonstrate splinting a leg and arm. After our training we chilled in the rooms and invited the children to come sing and dance to Bad Bunny and Shakira. The whole group filled up on dinner which consisted of enyucados, it’s fried mashed casava filled with chicken and cheese, sooo good! The group loved them to much that Sebastian, Faith, and Ellie got thirds. After dinner we were surprised with dancers from the local village who performed for us and even got us up dancing as well. The night finished strong with uno games with dares. Sebastian and Jacob got whole bags of water dumped on them while fully clothed. Our evening meeting concluded with games of rhythm and a new game where Anderson and Oliver had to move around, trying to find a chosen action, while the rest of the group told them if they were hot or cold. Mary Chandler and Kate made the action bunk beds which resulted in lots of laughs! Our question of the day, as created by Kate, the leader of the day, was who is your favorite celebrity? We also were taught the words Bailar, meaning to dance, and lluvia, meaning rain, as lead by Juliette, the Spanish teacher of the day. We all look forward to getting WFA certified tomorrow and going zip-lining.
By Juliette and Mary Chandler
June 28, 2026
We woke up fairly early for our wilderness first aid certification to a cheese empanada breakfast. It was straight to WFA after a peaceful breakfast and we were ready to finish up the certificate, it was mostly animal bites for the later night hike and some temperature emergencies. We learned about the flesh eating botfly larvae, and that freaked most of us out. After the written test, which everyone passed, we moved on to an emergency scenario as a group. The fake emergency scenario featured the trip leaders, some of the local kids, and the mannequin Johnny. It was a chaotic scenario: The cheese factory exploded, blood was everywhere and we had to act fast and as a team, 2 of the leaders had to be carried out on backboards. We had more than enough rescuers for everyone, so teamwork was easy and for the most part everything was done right, other than a few patients having their vital signs forgotten to be checked. Johnny (the mannequin) didn’t make it despite our best CPR efforts. After the scenario we had our graduation ceremony. Then we had lunch which was chicken, rice, beans, mashed potatoes.
Then came a long drive to the ziplines. The boys got their own van, while girls stuffed into another one. Minnie was nervous of the ziplines but broke through with some encouragement and pushes from the workers there. Some people had to double up to go on the zipline. After zipline everyone hopped on the vans to a long dinner. At the food court, everyone got pizza or pasta and Jacob got sushi as well. Then we all piled on the vans for the night hike. The guys got a taste of some of Diego’s music with Jacob’s speaker.
Back at the farm Crisley and Omar led an informative night hike around the paths in the jungle on the farm. Oliver unknowingly had a cockroach 🪳 crawl around on him for 2 minutes and shook it off! As we walked towards the path there was a long line of ants marching. Crisley was so excited to show his knowledge and interest in the area’s wildlife. As we moved on in the hike we saw some strawberry blue Jean frogs 🐸. We were so lucky and even got to see a tarantula! It was straight to bed after that. We skipped our blog and leaders of the day, so we write this at noon the following day. It was a long day and we were very tired and we all were excited for sleep and a fun day ahead of us! 😀
By Kate and Oliver
June 29, 2026
This morning after breakfast everyone had to pack up their items to transfer to the next hotel. Packing up was quite a challenge due to the fact that we had just gone souvenir shopping and had no room left in the suitcases. Something that stuck with me through this experience at Casa Crisley was Sarah and Mia’s beautiful relationship. Mia was so comforting and welcoming to the kids (especially Sarah), so when we had to leave it was such a sentimental moment to watch. Sarah loved Mia like an older sister so watching her say goodbye was so upsetting. Mia even shed a tear! After we said our goodbyes to Casa Crisley, we all packed in onto the bus and got comfy.
After the 1 hour drive to the restaurant for lunch we sat down and enjoyed a buffet. Then we went to a souvenir store and bought a bunch of fun surprises for our family and ourselves. After the souvenir store we continued our drive and played put a finger down and taught Faith some interesting facts. We arrived to the hotel and got our room assignments. We settled in and the rooms are so nice, two beds, one shower and even a kitchen.
Then we went to the meeting and we learned about stitches and injections. We began with the stitches, and used a banana to practice stitches. Mary Chandler did a very good job with the stitches and making them neat and tidy. Then we practiced injections on the oranges and injected water in the orange to resemble a vaccine. After this, we learned about public health in Costa Rica vs the United States. Did you know that Costa Rica has higher literacy rates than the United States? After this extremely valuable and interesting lesson we went off to consume dinner. We were so delighted to see pasta for dinner because we needed a little break from rice and beans. After dinner we had a lovely conversation with group about the clinic tomorrow and talked about our favorite movies and whether or not we would want a pause button, rewind button, or a fast forward button. It sparked a massive conversation within the group. Overall it was a very informational day. See y’all tomorrow!!!
By Sebastian, Mia and Faith
June 30, 2026
Today as we slowly woke up and gathered at the breakfast table, we were delighted to see pancakes for breakfast. Shortly after finishing up breakfast, we headed to the clinic for our first day of work and we met the team: Dayan, Coco, Sarah-Kate, Andreas, and Daniella. As a group we have communally decided that Dayan has to be one of the nicest humans on the planet. The knowledge and energy he shares with us is truly remarkable. We split into two groups, and one went to the mobile clinic and the other stayed at the main health center. In the mobile clinic, which is also a soup kitchen/daycare, we hung out with toddlers and young kids while the clinic began to open. Maddie and Mia S. helped some young kids across the monkey bars, while Mary Chandler and Juliette organized meds at the pharmacy. Minnie and Anderson set up their vital station in the waiting room, and Ellie gave a very educational presentation about preventing the spread of lice. Back at home base, Jacob and Faith navigated an awkward situation where they had to explain to a woman that although she needed 30 pills, they only had two. Thankfully this led to a comedic situation and a full-out laughing fit, which was something unexpected and enjoyed by all in the waiting room. Oliver and Simone saw many people in the waiting room, and Leila and Sebastian had arguably the coolest experience of the day. They were able to watch a surgery on somebody with lesions all over their legs, and Sebastian was even able to take someone’s glucose levels. After our rotations and lunch, we began planning for the meetings we will have in the next two days. Tomorrow, we meet with Casa Club, a group of special needs and disabled adults to talk about stress and anxiety. On Thursday, we meet with Mujeres Valientes, which is a group of women who have suffered extreme violence and come together to speak about it. We are going to have a discussion about resiliency, community, and joy. We headed back to the hotel, took a quick siesta, and then swam in the freezing pool. It was a nice relief from the sweltering Costa Rican heat. We had burgers for dinner, ice cream for dessert, and finished the night with a drinking game (water, of course!) Cheers to the governor, and goodnight!
By Mia S. and Jacob T.
July 1, 2026
This morning the group woke up really early to a lovely sweet smell of waffles and syrup. They were fluffy and delicious! After breakfast we all wished Oliver a happy birthday and hopes he enjoys being 16. The counselors bought him a gift which was a pair of sloth themed socks. After breakfast we hurriedly got on the bus to be at the clinic in time for opening. The groups were split between the soup kitchen and the main clinic, the groups remained the same as yesterday but the partners rotated jobs. Today the pharmacy was packed with people and the front desk was swamped. There were 2 sets of family’s today with little kids who we got to play with and give stickers to. They were so thrilled to have these stickers as they had never seen stickers before. Simultaneously at the soup kitchen there were multiple children struggling with head lice, some with worse cases than others….
After work both groups met at the clinic where we ate Sopa Azteca for lunch, a complex version of tomato soup with chicken, queso fresco, avocado and tortilla chips. We then made a stop at the Casa Club where we got to spend valuable time with adults with mental disabilities. Some of us even got to perform a quick skit about regulating your stress, we dressed up as bees, fairies and more. Mary Chandler and Mia S had a very sweet interaction with two of the adults. They traded some of their bracelets in exchange for a hairtie and another bracelet! Our time was cut short unfortunately because we had to rush to the bus in order to beat traffic. When we got back we were super tired and had a siesta. After the siesta the girls prepared their birthday dances and song for Oliver and we all got dressed in our nicest outfits to take photos in the scenery. A highlight photo was when Oliver was in the middle and we were all pointing at him. This lead into dinner which was quesedillas and veggies. To closeout the night we collectively played a game of Mafia where Faith learned that the group is very bad at any form of active listening as she lead the game. Finally, we ended the night with a song and dance to celebrate Oliver’s birthday! Goodnight!
By Faith and Sebastian
July 2, 2026
This morning we arose to the sweet smell of pancakes. After chowing down and finishing our preparations for clinic day 3, we made our way to the bus and headed on our way. When we arrived to the clinic we quickly began our assigned duties. Those of us who were at the remote clinic for the beginning of the week switched today with those who worked at the clinic that way everyone could experience all the mobile and stationed clinic has to offer. The people who stayed at the stationed clinic got to witness stitches and a pap smear. (Some at the mobile clinic were a little jealous!) After everyone was finished with their duties we ate lunch at the clinic. For lunch we had delicious nachos and mandarin juice. Once we finished lunch we had the pleasure to meet the women of mujeres valientes, as they come to the clinic. Mujeres valientes translates to English means brave women. These incredible women who came to the clinic were women who have had experienced domestic abuse. It was inspiring to meet such woman and discuss ways to aleviate stress and look towards a positive future. Meeting these woman was definitely a highlight of the trip so far, along with the group with mentally illness we met with yesterday as well. When we were with them we made posters with questions about mental resilience, positive outlooks, and habits that are good for our mental health. It was super fun and inclusive. While the purpose of the group was to make an impact on them, by the end, they had made even more of an impact on us. Their ability to keep moving after hardship was very inspiring. After they left and we said a sad goodbye, we hopped on the bus and went back to the hotel. While on the way back our leaders had the idea to get some snacks at a local grocery store. We all got excited and loaded up on fruit, chips, skittles, and coffee. Finally to end the day we were treated to a delicious dinner of chicken, rice, and chips. Overall an incredible day! Thanks for reading!
Buenas noches!
By Jacob and Minnie
July 3, 2026
Today we woke up to delicious waffles with a side of hot egg! After a filling breakfast, we headed to the clinic for our last rotation. At the FIMRC clinic, Ellie helped the patients check in and took their vitals while Mia S and Maddie gave prescription based on the Doctor’s orders. Shadowing the Doctor was Minnie and Anderson who got to witness shots and a patient with a UTI. Mary Chandler organized boxed along with Juliette. In the mobile clinic Simone and Oliver got to shadow the Doctor and listen to patient heart beats. Leila and Sebastian provided the patients with medication and Kate and Mia L made sure to take the vitals of each of our patients. Jacob and Faith had the task of treating school kids with lice, ensuring each of the crawly creatures were erased. We all met back at the clinic to have our final meal there and say our goodbyes and thank yous. When we got back to the hotel, Minnie and Simone took “siesta time” literally and fell asleep leaving everyone wondering where they were when it was time to go on our afternoon adventure. Lucky they were woken up and the group took a walk to this amazing cafe that Mary Chandler led us to. We enjoyed coffee, pastries, paninis, and more. After we finished at the coffee shop we walked to a little grocery store so Sebastian, Jacob, Oliver, and Anderson could get more food. Once we finished up at the grocery store Leila and Minnie begged to go to the soccer fields and to get the nail salon. Rebe and Alyssa said not today but maybe tomorrow. We all walked back to the hotel and ate a yummy dinner of rice and chicken. we finished up with a meeting and a movie night, watching carry on and eating snacks. Goodnight!
By Minnie & Simone
July 4, 2026
Today we got to sleep in and woke up at 8am for breakfast. Breakfast was eggs and hashbrowns. After breakfast we had free time before we started psychology pro tips with Dani from the clinic we’ve been working at. During the workshop we created a poster that illustrated how to solve certain scenarios. Ellie, Anderson, and Kate won the challenge and got a bunch of candy that was shared with the group. After the workshop, we headed to lunch. For lunch we went to an area that had a bunch of food trucks with different types of foods. Anderson and Jacob got a giant steak plate with many different sides. Mostly everyone else got burgers that had injectable cheese. While we were waiting for the group to finish eating, people decided to go on the swing set which wasn’t the best idea as it was not stable for people over the age of 12 lol. After we walked to a local soccer field to play, but when we got there we realized a local soccer team was playing. Minnie and Leila went to get their nails done while the rest of us watch the local soccer game. The game was a local men’s recreational league. Everyone was rooting for the team, Master Pozos, to win. During the game, most of us went to talk to some local teenagers. We met a kid named Sebastian and we took a picture with him. We got to play on the field during halftime. After the game we headed back to the hotel for Salsa Dance class. During class we did 3 different types of dances including partner dancing. Then we headed to dinner and had pasta and salad. For dessert we had chocolate cake. After dinner, we had a potluck of all the perishable food we had to throw away before our 5 hour bus ride tomorrow. Jacob brought over a stack of 4 ego boxes for us to share. There was also milk and yogurt that wasn’t consumed. To celebrate the 4th we ended our day talking about our favorite thing about U.S. history and watched some random fireworks that were going off. We are going to bed early to get ready for out 5 hour drive and beach day tomorrow!
July 5, 2026
Following our final night at hotel Los Candilles, we woke up to pancakes and eggs. With our packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and definitely overweight suitcases, we embarked on the daunting five hour drive.
The conversation was full of music, concerts, home towns, and the awaited England vs. Mexico world cup game while we passed by the mountains and breathtaking views.
After a few bathroom and snack stops, we arrived at our new beachside hotel! We were then split into three rooms: Jacob, Sebastian, Oliver, and Anderson–Mia S., Simone, Leila, Ellie, and Maddie–and Minnie, Kate, Mia L., Mary Chandler, and Juliette. These announcements were momentarily interrupted by the arrival of the hotel pets: a speckled black and white cat and her kittens, and a short stubby dachshund who we all successfully attempted to feed.
As soon as we set up our rooms, we headed down to the beach where we found time to tan, swim, play beach games, and take wildlife walks: all while remembering to “shuffle our feet” to avoid the pancake sized sting rays. . . which after our WFA training, we were very careful about.
As we write this, we are huddled together drinking our virgin piña coladas and eating brownie sundaes as we watch the England–or Mexico game, depending on who you ask. . . .but that being said,
GO ENGLAND!!
By Mia L. & Juliette
July 6, 2026
We woke up this morning around 8:00 for an 8:30 breakfast. It was a yummy buffet with eggs, pancakes, and sausage. After breakfast, everyone got dressed for a surf lesson. We arrived at the national park and did a quick demo on the basics for surfing. Some people had already surfed before and were hyped to catch some waves. However some people were quite nervous for some wave catching 😬.
We split up into 3 groups and went out. Everyone was catching waves with the help of our instructors. We all got out for a quick fruit snack break. But Faith, Kate and Diego were so locked in and decided to stay out and catch some waves. After the snack break a lot of people decided to just swim, Mary C, Kate, Faith, and Juliette wanted to keep surfing. The four of them even caught some party waves! (Everyone on the same wave).
After surfing we came back for a yummy lunch at the hotel. There were so many options for food and everyone was happy. After lunch we had a pick your own adventure. Some people slept while others swam in the hotel pool and a small group went to the beach for a walk. They saw a snail! 😲
Before dinner, the group sat in the hotel restaurant and watched the USA play in the world cup. We continued to watch all through dinner and were bummed at the devastating loss. We seperated into 2 teams and played a competive game of charades. Tomorrow we look forward to hiking and yoga!
By Kate & Mary C
July 7, 2026
We all woke up just like any other day, except that in the back of our minds we all knew it would be the last “real” one of the trip. Breakfast was a buffet just like yesterday. There was some free time between breakfast and the hike. Most people were in their room soaking up the free time.
After a short bus ride we arrive at the site in forested area and it started drizzling immediately, enhancing the already muddy terrain. We received our trees to plant and take a short hike to do so. Then we headed along a short trail to a cold stream and waterfall and stayed in the water for around 45 minutes before heading back along the same trail and riding back for some downtime. It was quiet, but then followed by an exciting game of soccer at lunch where we watched Argentina make an incredible comeback against Egypt in the hotel restaurant.
In the evening, we went to yoga. Yoga was a calming experience, many people felt as though it was a long awaited experience. After yoga we all had dinner at the Mexican restaurant just down the road where we met another global works group for a super brief exchange. Once back at the hotel we had a night meeting talking about the plans for tomorrow and our takeaways from the trip, and then we all headed off to our rooms to pack in preparation for our departure tomorrow.
By: Oliver and Anderson
July 8, 2026
“What a trip!” We say as we reminisce our final moments together. Seventeen days are gone in a blink of an eye and we are left with the purest memories. Memories of laughing together, experiencing new foods, cultures, and communities together, and memories of our time with one another. We listened to music off of jacobs speaker, supported world cup teams and cheered on our favorite players, played classic camp games together, and shared endless stories.
To sum up the last day we spent 5 hours on a bus together, laughing, talking, sleeping, and admiring the views we passed by. We had a quick lunch paired with souvenir shopping and we arrived back to our home (honeybee hotel). Once we arrived we did our closing ceremony where we appreciated all the times we spent as a group, longing for more time.
We are so greatful for this experience and honored to be able to offer our services to those in need. This trip will be forever in our memories and each moment will be engraved into into our hearts. We thank our parents and leaders for providing us with an unforgettable experience!
By Leila and Simone
