Day 18: Eating "Chia pets"

Hola! today was a good normal day here in Costa Rica :) In class today we practiced a lot for our patient simulation that's this Thursday! It was a lot of fun, and it made becoming a nurse feel even more real! It was amazing! We practiced taking each others basic information, asking about their symptoms, and taking their blood pressure! I love having a stethoscope around my neck! Makes me feel so professional and like a nurse :) I'm getting better at taking blood pressure, too! (I know it's not that hard... but practice does make it easier--I'm getting quicker at it!) So I'm excited to actually do the patient simulation on Thursday. Hoping it goes well since it's a big part of my grade.
Tonight we had yet an awesome dinner, too! Every meal is delicious! I look forward to dinner every night! After dinner there is "sobre mesa" or where we just sit and talk for awhile afterwards. Sometimes for a short time but sometimes for a long time. Tonight was one of those nights where we sat there talking for 2 hours. We eventually got on the subject of medicinal plants... and my room mate Emily had presentations today on medicinal plants that they use here in Costa Rica (we have ours next week). But she was telling us about "Chan" which are the seeds to "chia pets" in the U.S...those statues of animals that "grow" grass as hair. Well, they use those seeds to cure stomach aches here! So my tica Mom, Kathleen, had some and brought it to the table for us to try. They put the seeds in water and it automatically soaks it up and becomes very slimy! Which is a very strange texture to drink but it tastes minty. It was very interesting! I think it's so cool how they use plants here instead of taking advil or tums, etc. Maybe I'll try to do that from now on... :)
Tomorrow is a national holiday! The 187th anniversary of the annexation of Guanacaste from Nicaragua. So we don't have school. Which is a Nice break :) A day in which we can just relax and venture around San Jose, which we haven't been able to do much. So it should be a good day!
Buenos Noches!