What a week it has been! I actually think I am FINALLY going to be able to speak Spanish and properly use the imperfect and preterite after my daily grilling this week. Actually it wasn´t that bad. I had to talk for an hour every morning telling the story of a different patient I have treated. I started with some background information on them, how they got hurt, what we worked on in therapy and how they were when they finished therapy with me. Of course it brought back some great memories from home. I didn´t tear up like I did the day I had to read my composition (in Spanish) on the worst day of my life which of course was the day my dad died. And while I miss my family and friends at home, I have really missed my dad a lot while I have been here. Lots of fun activites filled this week. I made my first trip to Cartago, which was the original capitol of Costa Rica. It is a very old city with lots of history and a beautiful view of the mountains. We visited La Basilica de Nuestra Señora, a huge, very old Catholic Church with the legend that a little girl found a doll in the woods and took it home. Each morning the doll was gone only to be found back in it's place in the woods the next day. When she gave the doll to her priest and it happened to him he decided it was a sign that a church should be built there, which is the basilica's location today. It is a beautiful church inside and out! While in Cartago we also walked the grounds of Las Ruinas de Santiago Apostal. It is also very old and rich with history. It was never completed so has never had a service. Every time they tried to complete the church something happened and after many attempts it was decided not to complete it. There is no roof and you can't go inside but the gardens are visible from the outside and are gorgeous. We toured the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica in San Jose. It was an old fort that has been turned into the museum. Bullet holes are still visible on the building . The museum has a beautiful butterfly garden with beautiful plants and live butterflies flying throughout the garden. Mercado Central was another new experience. It is in the heart of downtown San Jose and was quite a busy place! It is filled with little stands selling everything from flowers, herbs and spices to handcrafted items, meat, seafood and little food stands they call sodas that have the best food in San Jose. I finished my week in the rain forest touring the canopy near Virgen, Costa Rica which is about 2 hours from San Jose. Wearing a harness that is attached to a cable you ride from one platform to the next in the canopy. In a word WOW! You go very fast and the cable makes a zinging sound as you speed down the zipline. Our last one carried us at a very fast speed out of the canopy and across a river. A definite must if you ever visit Costa Rica. That gets you up to speed with my progress in Spanish and cultural experiences. Hope you are all well and life is being good to you! ¡Chau! ¡Pura Vida! Mary