¡PURA VIDA!

This has an incredible past few days. So much has happened, that it’s hard for me to fathom that it all transpired in less than 72 hours. One of the first things you are introduced to in Costa Rica is their way of life, or simply put: pura vida (pure life.) The phrase was adopted from a 1940s Mexican film, which represents this country, which is among the happiest in the world and you can just feel it. This became very apparent to me as I participated in my Field-Directed Practicum (FDP) to Earth University for my class, The Practice of Humanitarian Engineering.

The day started off normally. I tried to sleep in as late as possible, so I got to jam breakfast (French toast, fruit, and potatoes) down my throat so that I wouldn’t be late. The bus was spacious because the FDP had not reached full occupancy, but the ride was extremely bumpy. The tour guide talked the entire time, and as I diligently listened to her, the rest of my class fell asleep faster than someone using anesthesia before an operation. We arrived at Earth University after a 90-minute ride. Known as “Earth” for short, it is a private, non-profit university that focuses on educating students representing 26 countries (the USA was not represented), where Earth students demonstrate leadership qualities and have the intention to return to their home communities and make a positive impact, environmentally and economically. Earth University has about 400 students that do work in both the field and laboratory. We watched a presentation and then visited a banana plantation. These plantations provide a significant amount of revenue for Earth. I learned that bananas grow from a plant, not a tree. We toured, going from the plantation to the processing plant to see how they prepare and export the bananas. It takes about two weeks for the bananas to arrive in supermarkets around North America.

As my stomach rumbled, we got back in the bus and proceded to the next part of the FDP. We visited the local community, with which Earth works closely. The community is called La Argentina (I’m not sure if I can technically say that I’ve been to Argentina). These families received several acres (~10) from the government and were given a 15-year period to make their plots profitable and sustainable. This community has been around for about 30 years at this point. Everyone on the FDP divided up into different groups and we were given “host families” for the day. My family came last, and that was at the highest point in the community. Each farm had a name and the one I visited was named “Finca La Virgen” (The Virgin Farm.) I was in a group with another girl, Allison and the tour guide, Fernando. Our host was named Chepita, which is a nickname for Josefa. (Coincidentally, one of my German grandmas is also Josefa!) Chepita explained that Finca La Virgen signifies “something new” to her. After a quick tour of her modest home and an introduction of the family and pets, we sat down for lunch. It was  Casado (very similar to the one I had the previous day, but instead of plantains, one of the sides was squash…or something like it.) All the food was either grown or raised on the farm…that means the chicken, the vegetables, the juice, the cacao, etc. It was delicious! We had some simple conversation, and the tour guide was pivotal in explaining/translating some aspects. It was a spectacular feeling for me to take in the setting, in which I had been placed. The views from the kitchen were breath-taking. This kind woman, living extremely humbly invited me into her home. She also had a “stranger” (I’m referring to a non-relative) from Nicaragua (Nicaragua and Costa Rica have a relationship similar to the US and Mexico in terms of immigration—Many Nicaraguans are illegally coming to Costa Rica) who has lost his leg to diabetes, staying with them until he could get his situation straightened out. It became very obvious that she had a heart larger than the size of her family farm (10 acres). After the Casado, I got to sample fresh pineapple and bananas.

Chepita, then, took us around her farm. The farm could be described as having several areas that produced various goods, which included charcoal, 7 types of cacao, chickens, vegetables and fruits. They consume these goods themselves and sell the surplus. The only thing she didn’t have was cows to produce milk, cheese, etc. I learned how to make charcoal and got a glimpse that this work is extremely strenuous. For example, it takes between 5-6 days of round-the-clock monitoring to create charcoal from wood. Chepita really included Allison and myself in this tour. We tried fresh cacao beans (I chewed the first one by accident. You’re supposed to suck on the sugary coating and spit out the seed.); we toured virtually every square inch. We also met Chepita’s husband (a man in his early 70s) working in the charcoal area. It was also explained that energy is very expensive for them. (She mentioned her electric bill cost about $10/month, and water is about $4/month.) I guess it’s all relative.

Upon returning to her house, Chepita had a little arts-and-craft project for us. We painted a little basket constructed of banana paper from the farm. Mine looks like a 4-year-old made it, but it will act as a momento of a spectacular day in the life of Costa Rican farmers. Towards the end of the visit, Allison asked Chepita what made her so happy. The response gave me goosebumps and I feel shed some light on a different appreciation for life. In short, she was happy that everyone around her was content. Her husband enjoys and likes to be busy with what he does on the farm, and she finds the simple things in life most enjoyable. She enjoys her housework, and the sense of community and religion was also something very positive in her life. We snapped a quick photo after that and the time came for us to leave. Although we met Chepita for only about 3 hours, I felt this immediate connection and appreciation for the sheer kindness that Chepita portrayed. She gave us each a big hug and kiss as we said adiós.

The ride back to the ship concluded my FDP. I bought a few souveniors in town and went out to eat with Emily. I got rice and beans and went out to a bar later. The nightlife didn’t seem much different from anywhere else that I’ve witnessed. I was exhausted after a full day. This FDP introduced me to a few people that I hope to never forget about and hopefully stay in touch with.

Today (Friday) was a bit more touristy. Another early morning, and we hopped on the bus on our way to the Cacao Trails and Sloth Sanctuary…but there was a twist. We were informed on the bus by the tour guide that we weren’t going to the Sloth Sanctuary. I was momentarily devastated that I was not going to see my favorite childhood animal. However, we were not informed that they itinerary had changed. Instead of the Sloth sanctuary, we were going to a Jaguar Retreat in Puerto Viejo.

Everything was ‘smooth sailing’ today. We took the scenic route on our way to the Cacao Trails. The two-lane road took us through parts of Limón, and we drove along the coast most of the way, passing Cahuita on the way. My group was introduced to our barefoot tour guide. I was dressed in long pants and shoes because we were walking through the “woods.” He was a great guide and encouraged us to try everything we passed by on the tour…I’ll explain in a moment, but I can say that I had a few firsts on the tour of the Cacao Trails. I learned the process of how chocolate is made. The samples that they made in front of us were unlike any chocolate that I ever had…it was better! Did you know that it takes about 5-6 days to get cacao from the seeds to the powder form? Did you also know that it is the American idea to have cacao with milk and sugar? Many Costa Ricans have cacao with hot water, which is also supposedly much healthier. After sampling some chocolate, we walked around the rest of the area, which included a banana plantation and a plethora of medicinal plants. I’ve have already forgotten quite a few of the names of the plants, but it was quite thrilling to try leaves, fruits, and sugarcane directly from the trees and plants. I had one leaf that tasted like lemon. I also tried a Noni fruit, which made me gag…but I took the plunge and tried it…twice. Only on the second time, did I successfully swallow the fruit.

After the tour, we had lunch. Can you guess what I had? It would be obvious that we had CASADO again! Maybe on the fourth day I’d complain, but nevertheless, it was super delicious! I met a few new people while on the tour, and the conversation is usually good when randomly paired up with people for a meal. Afterwards, we continued onto the Jaguar Retreat. Now before you’re blood pressure goes up, please take a deep breath. There were not any jaguars at this animal refuge. Instead, there were howler monkeys, sloths, deer, hawks, owls, a wildcat, frogs, snakes, etc. This rescue was started by an Italian man and his wife, who is from Spain, who help injured animals to recover and return them to the while after a certain point of time. We got to pet the monkey, and I took quite a few pictures to try and get a still photo of these fidgety animals. The frogs jumped on some of the visitors; and the frog was easy to photograph, relatively speaking. Also, I did witness a snake consuming one of the frogs. That is something that I have never seen. My favorite animal had to be the sloths. We got to see the 2-toe and 3-toe sloths. Their faces look like they are permanently smiling and they were simply magnificient. The Jaguar Retreat was a great place with inviting people that genuinely care about the animals in their environment and are working hard to educate others.

The excursion brought us then to a resort, where we were served fresh fruit and [fruit] juices. We had the opportunity to lay on the hammocks for a little and get pictures on the beach. We got a glimpse of Puerto Viejo, which is one of the main tourist spots in Costa Rica. The beaches were cool because they had black sand because of the high concentration of iron in the ground. (The beach is conveniently called “Playa Negra”.) The ride back was smooth. After returning to the ship, I spent the last of my Colons. The exchange rate is $1 to ¢500 (colones). So it’s fun to say that we spent almost ¢30,000 on dinner one day. I picked up a few granola bars at the supermarket, since I wasn’t prepared in the snack department. I had no idea that one could get so hungry in between meals while on a ship.

Costa Rica has by far exceeded any expectations that I had. Costa Rica has also been the best stop thus far. I have never seen such a green country…yes, in my opinion, it’s greener than Germany! The people were friendly and helpful. Did I mention only one person asked me for money? My experiences definitely were positive and I would gladly return to Costa Rica in a heartbeat. I think I’ll start eating more bananas and cacao in support of the Costa Ricans. The people just seem to be happy and less preoccupied with some of the petty things in life. The majority is proud of their country and have faith in their government. I think it’s important to point out that you don’t need to have the most or be the wealthiest in order to be the happiest…you can easily observe this in Costa Rica.

We will be at sea till Monday. I have 3 more days of class. I’m starting to feel the crunch to finish all my work, but it’s going to be interesting to see what experiences I’ll have in the upcoming countries.

Bis dann,
Matt

P.S. Elijah has informed me that I was talking in Spanish the other night while sleeping.