It is now less than two weeks until I leave for San José! I’ve started making a packing list, and it
looks like I’m going to be taking quite a few electronics!
I’ll need my laptop, because we will need its spreadsheet
capabilities to do inventory on the hospital’s equipment. Now more than ever I wish I had bought the 13’
version of my 15’ monster for the lighter weight. I imagine I’ll be doing quite a bit of
running around with it, which means I’ll need to have a longer battery life than
its current 45 minutes. Here’s the first
thing to add to the pre-departure shopping list: laptop battery. Also, I should probably bring an Ethernet cable. I’ve never used one with my laptop before
since the wireless is so reliable, but who knows how the wifi will be
there.
My digital camera is a given. I had a heart attack moment a few weeks ago
when the lens got stuck and wouldn’t go back in, and I feared it was because it
had been jostled continuously in my bookbag for the past month. Luckily the solution was as simple as
recharging and reinserting the battery.
I was going to be very sad if I couldn’t take high-quality photos for
you guys. As my friends know, I have
thus far been too lazy/cheap to store my camera in anything nicer than a
disused sock, so now is the perfect time to purchase a decent case. No more lens errors for this girl.
My dad also gave me our old MagicJack USB, which lets you
make free phone calls from anywhere in the world through your PC to the US and
Canada. We were going to use it for our
house phone, since yearly membership is only $12 and all you need is an
internet connection, but the call quality was a bit poor to be replacing our
landline. We figure it’ll be a bit
easier to get in touch with the family back home than Skype, because, honestly,
I can’t expect them to be sitting around the computer all day waiting for me to
sign on. This way I’ll call and get an
immediate answer, and then we can swap to Skype if we choose. I’ll not be so far away from home, after all!
My Auntie Kami gave me her iPod touch to take with me on the
trip! I have never had the pleasure of
using one of these before, and I was completely blown away by how many things
you can do with an iPod. Depending on
the wireless internet access, this will be a great way onto the internet
without hauling out the laptop. I can
check my email, check the weather, send iMessages to my friends with iPhones,
etc. This is so exciting!
She was also thoughtful enough to send a Spanish phrase book
for travelers, which I’ve been reading nightly before bed. It’s not meant to teach you nitty-gritty
Spanish, just the phrases you need in a given situation, like asking how much a
taxi costs, ordering in a restaurant, etc.
It states the English meaning, the Spanish translation, and the
pronunciation. The book is for Castilian
Spanish (the Spanish spoken in Spain), and I had forgotten that they pronounce “c’s”
and “z’s” like the “th” in “think.” That
lispy Spanish always sounded silly to me!
I won’t be encountering that in Costa Rica or Nicaragua, but I have heard
that they use different personal pronouns than the rest of Latin America. I wonder what else will be new.
Today I think I'll start on the packing list and peruse the EWHSI Google Site for tips about what to bring.
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