My New Love...

Natalie Wade (from Chicago!)

...massage student/new surfing buddy

When We Were Turtles

So in talking to my brothers family on Halloween night, I discovered that my nephew, Chase and I dressed up as the same thing for Halloween....a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle! And we were even both Leonardo. :) I guess 5 year olds and 28 year olds can have a lot in common.

Top Tens

Favorite Things about Costa so far...

-Seeing the Ocean every day

-Casado (authentic Costa Rican meal)

-Laid Back Culture - dogs and horses roam the streets, people are in bed early and life is focused around relationships

-Fresh veggies, fruit and fish - we can buy right across the street

-Free neck/back massages

-Howler Monkeys

-No makeup required

-Bedtime is between 10-11pm at the latest...every night. (one night this week, it was 9pm) It gets extremely dark here by 6pm so around 8 it feels like midnight and I start yawning.

-Experiencing a new Culture/Language - love the affection and friendliness here. You don't usually pass on the street without saying at least "hola."

-SUNSHINE!!

Not as Favorite things so far... :)

-My towel doesn't usually ever dry completely.

-Roosters on campus start crowing at 4am and continue throughout our class time even if we are taking an exam!

-We have campus dogs with no homes that smell and sleep on our porch. We have hearts for them, don't worry. They just smell...a lot. I pet them with my feet. They also sleep outside the classroom, which is outdoors. One day I was giving an hour long massage and I smelled Kophu, our biggest deal of a dog on campus. What a surprise fragrance when you're getting a relaxing, refreshing massage!

-We have internet "every now and then."

-Ants are e-v-er-y-where. We find them on the kitchen counter, in our food, in the bathroom and IN OUR BEDS.

-Bug spray is my new perfume.

-Men don't give shy glances, smiles or hellos if they like what they see. They beep, hollar, whistle or shout, "Hello baby, what's your name???" LOL

So I couldn't think of as many things I don't care for. But I will say one thing about Costa that's true. Running is the same here...it's still hard. If you ever find yourself feeling complacent in your circumstances and wishing you were in the jungle land with me, just remember the roosters and ants and moistness and smelly dogs and go out and wear a scarf for me in your beautiful, cool, clean, dry Autumn air.

Anatomy in Clay

This class has been crazy cool so far. We are getting to build each muscle in the body that we've previously memorized in our Musculoskeletal class in Q2. We've completed the face, forearm, leg and only have the thigh and hip left to do. It's a great way to reinforce what we've already worked hard to learn and cements it into our minds even deeper. Plus, it's just fun to play with clay.

After this class ends on Wednesday, we have another long weekend and are off for Thursday through Sunday. Some people are staying around town, some are traveling to other parts of Costa Rica. What are my plans you might wonder? Oh I don't know...I just might have some company coming into town, say both of my parents and my niece, Audrey for an entire week!!!! :)

Can't really describe how I excited I am to see all three of these precious people. SO EXCITED! We'll take off Friday-Sunday to Monteverde, Costa Rica and back to Samara Sunday night for my classes that start again on Monday. They'll be here through Thursday and then my amazing friend and roommate, Becka Ludden comes with a friend of hers to visit that same Thursday. I'm going to be beside myself with excitement and joy while I have all of these visitors here. Absolutely can't wait. Like at all. Wish it was Thursday right now!

Sweet 28th Birthday

My birthday was the greatest this year. Such sweet girls that made it special. First off I woke up to my roommate, Kari making AMERICAN brand chocolate chip pancakes! All day people were so sweet and I even got a free hour long massage after class! At night we went to Rancheros and ate a birthday dinner (yummy Quesadillas and red wine for me). During dinner, BOTH of my sis and bro Skyped my phone and we chatted for a bit. They know how to make me feel special. :) Afterwards we came back and ate cake, my roommate (again Kari...so sweet) made an amazing cake with ingredients sent from my Mom (another sweetie!) back home. It was an "Incredible Chocolate Cake" with OREO frosting. YUM!! The girls sang Happy Birthday and we...ate cake. :) I loved every minute of it. And probably the best part (besides sweet texts/emails from friends) was an email from my nieces and nephews who each wrote a paragraph to me wishing me Happy Birthday and updating me on their lives. My favorite was Logan who said, "Aunt Katie, I like your birthday. I hope you have a good birthday. and hope you have good presents and I hope you have good cake. and that's all. love, Logan" Melted my heart.

Great birthday!!

Nicaragua!

La Iglesia DeMerced

On top of the Bell Tower

Walking through the Market :/

Mountains of Nicaragua

Cute kitty I found along the way...

Hotel Dario

Boat ride to the islands of Nicaragua

Coconut water

Mr. Parrot

This bird liked to bite!

We got to feed the monkey's seeds.

This little guy grabbed it right out of my hand with his little paws!

Roommate, Kari Harlow

Saturday AM Yoga with Administrator, Kim and classmate, Melissa

Night Volcano Hike in Masaya, Nicaragua

We were taken into bat caves and lava tubes!

Hiking group - Adam, Kari, Jess and Kim

Active Volcano sulfur...mmmmmm.

Found an Evangelical Church on the last day!

We sang, "Glory, Glory Hallelujah"...I tried my hardest to sing in Spanish!

(...but just mostly cried happy tears) :)

The colorful streets...

Long car ride home... (with Adam and Nicole)

Study study Sunday

Once again we are studying today like it's our job. What are we studying? Absolutely all the muscles in body that we will use in massage and palpation. Knowing all the muscles helps us assess problem spots and shows us where to press that makes someone come away feeling the absolute best they can. Maddie and I are plugging away today. Tomorrow our finals are the following: Musculoskeletal, Psychology of Touch and Bodywork Experiential. After tomorrow we can breath a little lighter. Tues/Wed we each have to massage our instructor for 15 min and we also have a Hydrotherapy workshop both days. Hydrotherapy means we get to play with hot stones! I know I love heat compressions when I get a massage so I am stoked to learn how to use them. Should be a fun week and Thursday it's off to Nicaragua for the long weekend!

Maddie is HAPPY

Katie is a little tired of studying

What up Muscles of the Spine and Thorax??

Study Study Saturday

Jess and I are studying at Cafe' Carola today. We love to come and eat and it's the greatest most relaxing place in Samara we've found so far. LOVE Saturdays!!

Addicted

So I kind of can't stay away from this passage right now. Anyone want to memorize it with me?

Colossians 3:1-17

Rainy Rain

This week has been a RAINY one. Now, I absolutely LOVE the rain so I can't complain one bit. But with the rain we experienced some chilly temperatures, say around 75. We're all so used to 90+ that we showed up to class in jeans, sweatshirts and drinking hot tea to stay warm. Ha! I enjoyed the change of pace (i.e. not sweating every liquid ounce out of me day after day) but am looking forward to less mud puddles and muck to walk through each day. They say the rainy season is over come November so we should see sun (and HOTNESS) soon again.

Musculoskeletal Class

Muscles of the forearm study session

(Nicole and Justine)

New study spot