Minor Preparations

There is little I can do (or, being the college student that I am… there is little I feel compelled to do) with still a good number of days before Costa Rica. I will probably see this blog post the night before my flight and mentally slap myself. But it isn’t to say I have done nothing at all! I’ve just been to the doctors for a blood test to see if the Hep. A and B vaccines I had years ago is still present in my blood… Or something along those lines (my not-pre-med knowledge). I am wondering if it is necessary to take those extra precautions to prevent malaria or dengue… I’m not one to worry too much about diseases, but getting sick would definitely detract from my experience.

Also, I had some time in Barnes&Nobles today to browse through Costa Rica for Dummies. I’m fooling myself if I think I can become a Costa Rica expert and memorize the map of the country in just a few hours, especially because I can’t even memorize the map of my own country after living here for 18 years. I guess I read it mainly to get the most basic sense of their history and culture. And to be honest, not a lot of it rubbed off on me. I think it’s like getting your first dog… You can read all the books and talk to all the so-called experts, you can feel totally prepared for the challenge, but in the end there will still be things you could never have learned any other way except by trying it yourself. And if Costa Rica is anything like my first (and current) dog, it will be life changing in all the best ways. But this should go without saying, because I already know it will be amazing, just like the moment I walked up to the kennel cage and knew, “This is the one.”