menfield

Another beautiful day in Boruca. We woke early for our first day of service. Meeting at Dona Margarita’s place at eight, we moved as a group through the town, over the river, to Boruca’s high school. The school itself was situated on a hill, and as such, its buildings are were spread out along it, making getting from one end to another a little troublesome. We were originally under the impression that we would be painting part of the school, but  the president of the board of directors had some other ideas.

We were split into small groups, one went to clean off benches and tables, another left to put caps on the fences to make them safer, and the last went to rid the outer wall of weeds. The work was simple, but we felt like we were making positive impacts for the school. Later, two groups combined to help scrub and wash the fence for painting. However, at this point we hit our first snag; we had too many students and not enough supplies. Nancy reiterated that long term planning wasn’t really a custom in Costa Rica, and that the lack of supplies wasn’t really a shock nor a big deal. So we ended up having to compromise and share the supplies that we did have as efficiently as possible. By the end, we had painted a section of the fence and cleaned the benches and tables, but not as much as we would have liked.

We broke for lunch.

When we returned, we were asked to now paint the cleaned benches and tables, however, once again, there was only so many brushes and paint so only a few students could do work at a time. However, the time wasn’t wasted on the other students as they decided to group up to discuss their future service projects in Sierpe. By early afternoon we left the school in better shape than we found it, but still feeling like we could have done more.

Later, we met at the Borucan museum to further talk about the history of the town. The museum itself was small, only consisting of three rooms, one of which was a gift shop. The actual museum hosted a number of artifacts and paintings. We were given a small tour where the guide told us the history of Boruca, from their founding, to their scaring off of the Conquistadors via devil masks, and finally to the festival they hold each year celebrating that event. The gift shop itself held many Borucan items; mainly masks and hand woven textiles. All of these had been crafted by the townspeople and so they receive a portion of the sales when one of their items is sold.

After a long day, we decided to end on a student hike around town, soaking it all in, excited to see what tomorrow held.

by Tyler

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Our day started in the Talamanca mountains and ended in the indigenous community of Boruca. We “slept in” until breakfast at 7, which included fresh avocados and a miraculous sunrise, to energize us for the hike to see where they process coffee at the cooperative. We received an in-depth tour of the co-op from Nelson, who walked us through the process from when the coffee beans are in a berry to when they are in a cup of coffee.

This made a lot of us reflect on the intensive work that goes into our morning pick-me-ups. Each step in the process requires hard and careful labor, rather than a machine completing the process in one fell swoop. Coffee is one of the top exports for Costa Rica, often going to Europe and the United States, and is always incredible.

We were rewarded with a roaring waterfall at the bottom of the coffee co-op. This provided a great view for photo opportunities and a break from the sweaty hike. However, this was not our only waterfall of the day; soon after, we found a smaller waterfall with plenty of room for swimming beneath, which is exactly what we did. The water was frigid but refreshing, except for maybe Tyler, who decided to take a dip in his jeans. We were then shuttled back in two shifts to the ecolodge to dry off and freshen up after our short swim.

Before lunch, Dona Noire was kind enough to show us around her garden, which was bursting with beautiful greens and could have fed a hungry village. Occasionally she would point to a certain vegetable or herb and would describe its purpose in helping different parts of the human body. This was clearly a woman of vast knowledge and connectedness to her work. She and her family were definitely hard to say goodbye to after our meal, but we had to pack up our stuff and load onto the bus to start our long journey to Boruca before the sun went down.

We were in Boruca about 5 hours later, ready to explore this new community and immerse ourselves into the culture by living in home-stays with Borucan families. After separating and being welcomed with hugs and kisses into our different homes, we closed our eyes to recharge for the next day.

By Hannah

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We had an early start at our first morning in Armonia Ambiental, however getting up was easy due to our excitement for the day. While excited for hiking and the coffee making process, something else took the crown – milking cows. After a delicious breakfast, Orlando and Dario took us to their beautiful, and very pregnant cow. One by one, we all took turns milking her, which was scary and exciting all at the same time.

While reluctant to leave the cows, Nelson and Dario took us on a beautiful hike through the forest looking for birds. The terrain was steep and challenging at times but we managed to see a Toucan! Throughout this hike, Nelson and Dario’s passion for nature shined through. They were extremely educated about the birds, plants and animals surrounding their farm. Continuing the hike, we climbed a steep hill to reach the coffee bean portion of the finca, which is a passion for the entire family. Nelson showed us the berry which the coffee bean was inside. Most of us had no idea it even came from a berry.

To continue the coffee making process, we returned to the lodge for Don Orlando to show us how it’s done. It begins with taking the bean from the berry and roasting that. Then you put all those beans and smash the shell off of them, we each got a chance to try. Following removing the of the shell, it goes through a sifter type mechanism. Then you roast the beans again! After being roasted to perfection, the beans go through a grinder and there you go! While a long and tedious process, the taste is totally worth it.

After the coffee making process, we had a delicious lunch (as per usual) with the amazing view. With a full stomach, Dona Norie took us to show us how to make her famous blackberry jam and cheese. While going through her process, you could tell how proud she was to show us. She took classes to follow all the health protocols such as wearing a hair net and putting dates of production of the label. She took so much pride which was very inspiring.

Due to an action packed day we took some time to relax and write in our journals after the cheese and berry making process. It was a long and filled day, after dinner, most of us turned in for an early night. It was a great way to end our day in Armonia Ambiental!

By Hannah

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Starting this post off with a birthday shoutout to Anna, who turned 20 today on our trip!

With an early morning rise at 5:30 am, we all bundled up in warm wool blankets as we made our way over to the main lodge for some freshly brewed coffee as the sun started to kiss the morning mountain tops. Just as our second cups of joe started to kick in, the group headed out to hike up the trails around Mirador de Quetzals. With the intent to do a little bird watching the “tour” guides carried along pretty high tech binoculars and telescopes. The route of the trail focused around the hope to see a Quetzal Bird- a beautiful red, green and blue colored bird with an extremely long tail, whom is local to this area. Sure enough, between stopping at the waterfall and working our way back to the main lodge, we spotted one.

At an elevation of almost 9000 ft and after a 2 hour long hike/bird watch, the group slowly huffed their way back to the lodge for a home cooked breakfast and a third cup of coffee. It’s seems that at every meal we start the same conversation after the first bite: “Wow this is so good,” or “I am so surprised by how good the food is.” Thus far beans and rice, plus a little variation in additional sides, at every meal has continued to surpass our expectations. With an hour of free time between breakfast and exploring the bog we sat down on the porch to do a little journaling; this lasted about five minutes before being distracted by the humming birds. In front of us were around 20 humming birds allowing us to get close enough for them to perch on our hands as they drank nectar from the feeders. It was such a cool feeling to have the blue and green metallic bird flutter so close to us; as if human interaction was second nature to them.

After the break we hiked up to and across the road into a close by bog to explore the wildlife in this environment. The “fashionable” knee high hiking boots were a major necessity as we frolicked through the water and mud. While we did not see any critters, there where many tracks found along the muddy paths; specifically we found many tapir and dog tracks. We continued to explore the bog’s environment up until lunch. After lunch we packed up and started our journey to Armonia Ambiental. While the rickety drive up the mountain was remotely terrifying, as it was just barely enough room for one car, we arrived at the very last house on the road. The view was breathtaking. We found ourselves in the mists of the clouds surrounded by the beautiful vegetative mountain side. At 6:00 pm the sky began to darken and the clouds settled in around us in the open widows of the dining room. By this time we were settled into our cabins, fully satisfied with the delicious, fresh-picked and home cooked meal, and sat down to meet with Dona Noire.

Dona Noire is the women in charge of the running the “hotel” at Armonia Abiental. They started this “hotel” around the same time as the family switched their farming practices to being solely organic. Prior to the transformation Dona Noire’s family farm sold three products; now they grow and produce 111 products. All of which do not use harmful pesticides or chemicals; rather, the family uses a homemade pesticide concocted of garlic and hot chili peppers. The motivation to switch their farming lifestyle was to be able to live a happier, healthier life. Dona Noire shows extreme passion for her career and true happiness when it comes to her family. Additionally, we meet her husband Orlando, two sons Nelson and Dario, and daughter Deily, all of whom help out on the farm and have been a major support in Dona Noire’s passion for starting her business.

We ended the night playing card games and star gazing before settling into bed.

By Meghan

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Today was a travel day for us. We left San Jose on our way to Mirador. Before leaving San Jose, we stopped to visit Randall at Pretoma. Randall has dedicated his life to protecting marine life, specifically sea turtles and sharks. His work has been recognized by many world leaders and has won many awards for his efforts to protect these large animals. He uses community engagement to promote safe fishing so that turtles and sharks do not get caught and killed. Over the years, Randall has influenced Costa Rican policy in order to promote sustainable fishing.

Our next stop, on our way to Mirador, was visiting Don Anselmo, an organic farmer. He is Blue Flag Certified and gave us a tour of his land and explained his many different sources of income. One main source of income is his soil made by composting cow manure. He sells 50% of the soil and keeps 50% for himself to use in his farm. We got to see goats, pigs, and best of all, we got to hold a chicken and a chick. After the tour, we were served lunch, prepared by the women in his family, and enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee.

Next stop: Mirador! Mirador is a family run lodge in the Talamanca Mountains. The view was absolutely breathtaking so we had some free time to explore and take in the scene. After dinner we met Doña Leanore, who is an 83 year old woman who started this family business with her husband years ago. She told us about her life and has an incredible story. She told us how the lodge got started and where it is now. That night in the cabin was freezing but we survived!

By Caroline

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We woke up knowing that we had a busy day ahead of us but we were not sure what we were doing. We knew that we were going for a hike and that some of the day would be devoted to learning about the culture in Costa Rica. Knowing this, we left our hostel at 7AM to have our first of many hikes in the Talamanca Mountains. The hike started with a incredibly steep incline and after the first ten minutes I was not sure I was going to make it. Once we made it to the clearing at the top of the mountain, we were looking at San Jose and everything surrounding it.

After frolicking in the field and taking a few pictures of the view, we made our way back down the mountain and went to the first of many farms that we would visit during our time in Costa Rica. It was an organic farm run by a man named Ruben. During our visit we saw all the crops that he produces there. Among the crops were kale, lettuce, onions, basil, mint, and much more.

After our visit to the farm, we had a delicious lunch with a live musician playing while we ate. We then hopped on the bus and drove to a man that had a trapiche. A trapiche is a sugar cane mill. At the trapiche we saw all the equipment that he used to produce his products and we even got to have a little taste of some of the products he produces.

We left the trapiche and went to visit a man who makes masks. It was very interesting to hear about his process and I was surprised to learn that it takes a month for him to make one mask. After learning a little bit about the masks, a couple of us got the chance to put on a mask and put on a performance for the rest of us.

After an amazing performance from some in the masks, we headed back into San Jose to take a dance class. This was my favorite part of the day because being a dance major it is always fun to learn new styles and be able to bring what I learn back to school with me. At the dance class, we learned three different styles. This turned out to be a lot more of a work out then I expected because we were constantly moving the entire time. After shimmying our way through dance class, we all walked back to the hostel and had the rest of the night to ourselves. It was an exhausting day but an overall great one. I’m excited to see what else Costa Rica has to hold.

By Blair

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Today started with being awoken early by endless honking horns. The group met at 7:30 in the resteraunt area of the hostel for a delicious breakfast of  Casado, a variation of a protein, veggies, rice & beans. After eating our fill we gathered on the patio to discuss expectations for the class and our two major service projects. Excitement grew as we went over what the service projects entailed. This was our first taste of having to go with the flow. We are now going to be helping a different woman create a small sewing business then we were originally going to and the chicken coop is now for fryer instead (chickens raised for meat) of laying chickens. Now that we had revised plans we headed out to the market to strart buying supplies. Midway through our shopping adventure we stopped in a market for lunch were we had another variation of Casado. After lunch we were given free time to explore the market for ourselves. They seemed to have everything there, from belts and purses to puppies and fishes.

Once we were done exploring the market the sewing group split off to go to the sewing store, while the chicken group had some free time.At the store the sewing group got all the supplies needed- sewing machine, needles, pins, equipment for a sign and flyers, etc., to help Dona Magda start her business.

The next engagement we had was dinner at 6:00. A couple of us went to the Costa Rican National History Museum. In the museum there was a butterfly sanctuary. After some more exploring of San Jose we all relaxed at the hostel for a couple hours, where we wrote in our journals, read, hung in hammocks, and napped. For dinner we once again had Casado. The food is amazing! Once we finished dinner we went to a grocery store to pick up breakfast for the next two days. We ended the night by pow-wowing in the lobby and playing card games.

By Anna

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Here we go!

We have a slight delay, but we will be bording soon.  Costa Rica here we come!

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The New Year is here and that means we are 2 days away from departure on the 2017 Costa Rica Jungle Service study abroad course. I’ve been gradually collecting my belongings. This year is different in many ways, for example I’ve got an extra bag for supplies:

The blue bag is mostly supplies and is filled with clamps, measuring tapes, levels, and carpenter squares. This year we planned significant service projects in two communities. It should be interesting to lug that bag through customs, but it will be worth it because I am super excited about the projects! The team learned about a need, planned and thought about what might respond to that need, and developed plans. I ordered some stainless steel hardware for one of the projects. But we have also been keeping another perspective in mind, “what we will learn from the people we serve.”

This service project and the blog you are reading have also changed my preparations. In the picture you can see that I am bringing a camera with me. I have not previously brought a DSLR, but we are really thinking about how we document our work. This blog is one way we are documenting, but I want to think hard about the outcomes of what we do in the end of the course.

The whole course has not changed, we will still read, discuss, and think about conservation, sustainability, permaculture, culture, communities, and service. As a frame for this, we read the UN Sustainable Development Goals and will refer to the during the course. I hope this will offer a grounding framework for considering our experiences and observations.

The next post will come as we travel to Costa Rica!

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