Quiet day in La Fortuna

Today, most of the group has food poisoning, so we've been at the clinic in La Fortuna for the entire day. Pobresitos. I am feeling a little under the weather, and I'm very glad I'm not sick to my stomach. It is 2:30 in the afternoon and we are finally beginning the four hour, bumpy ride to Jaco Beach. The heat is humid and sweltering. It's difficult to believe it snowed in Iowa yesterday. The photo above is from the Catholic church in La Fortuna. It seems appropriate given the circumstances of the day.

On our second day, we visited a heart of palm plantation, a sugar cane cooperative, and the tropical agriculture graduate school CATIE. The heart of palm plantation showed a demonstration of how heart of palm is harvested. With a mechitae, a small palm tree is cut down at the base. Then subsequent layers of tough stem were removed to reveal the sweet and tender heart of palm. We all passed around a heart of palm core and each took a bite off the end. We also got to sample palm fruits. They were bright orange, and peeling them made out hands turn orange. Unexpectedly, the fruits were salty. In Spanish, the farmer instructed to to bite open the pit. The inside was sweet and tasted of coconut. He told me most Latin Americans don't enjoy palm fruits, but he loves to eat it in the evenings with coffee.

After driving two hours north, we reached a sugar cane cooperative (finca de Cana, please excuse the spelling until I reach a computer). The farm managers told us about sugar can cooperative. It was hot and dry here. The sugar cane refinery looked incredibly dirty from the outside. Men were in the fields harvesting the sugar cane into large stacks and long, tractor pulled carts. Watching them from a distance was surreal. I was speaking with the farm manager in Spanish, and as we headed to the next farm site of the sugar plantation, Dr. Burras asked if I could ride with the farm managers in their truck. What an opportunity! I got to speak with them about the latest volleyball match, a popular thing here in Latin America, and tell them about my studies. The next field site was for research on different cultivars of Cana. I took notes about the cultivation an cooperative sugar production which will be typed up at a later date.

The last stop for the day was the graduate school of tropical sustainable agriculture, CATIE. CATIE was founded in 1942 as part of crop research for WWII by the United States, and has been renowned around the world as an excellent place to earn a masters degree in agriculture. They have the largest agricultural library in Latin America and has some or the largest collections of tropical crops. We observed annitio dye, guava, coffee, and cocao. Industry uses annitio dye for coloring food. We got creative and put the dye on our lips and cheeks.



The best crop we've tasted however, is cocao. I had never seen it before, and Dr. Vialobos cut open a cocao fruit. Inside the coco beans were enveloped in white, membranous, sweet material. It was the best thing I've seen since naranjilla. We bit open the coco bean and were shocked to discover is was purple!

After sampling the cocao, I struck up a Spanish conversation with a Brazilian graduate student, Kaue Sousa, which lasted for hours. We talked about his project in agroforestry, the institution on CATIE, and beginning a life in Costa Rica. Dr. Burras invited the students to share dinner with us, so we carried on a long conversation on the bus. He told me about settling in Costa Rica with his wife and how I should take an internship at CATIE. I can't say the idea isn't tempting! Their school of sustainable agriculture is wonderful, and now I have several friends there. Kaue even went so far as to email me the information about interning there.

At dinner, I spoke with Kaue's wife, Suelen, who spoke Portuguese and some Spanish. She told me about her goals for this year before she begins graduate school: to finish her undergraduate degree, begin teaching Portuguese, and learn English. I could tell from the way she told me about her goals, the transition to life in Costa Rica could be difficult at times. I can empathize in difficult transitions. She also told me about learning languages in Brazil, which sounded not unlike the mentality of the United States. Since Brazil is an economic leader of South America, most do not find it nessicary to learn a second language. Many in Latin America want to learn to speak Portuguese, and she hopes to find work teaching. Learning this about Brazil made me feel less guilty about the lack of language knowledge Americans acquire. I would still like this to change about the Unites States, but perhaps this is a characteristic of large, economically influential nations.

At the end of our visit, Suelen asked for a photo and added me on Facebook. I am so delighted to have these new friends!

Writing on the bus ride is starting to make me feel queazy, so I'm going to elect to watch the scenery pass us by.

Pura Vida

I must admit, yesterday as I was going to sleep, I had my reservations about this trip. I was worried when no one wanted to speak in Spanish to me when we arrived in San Jose. However, today we ascended the mountains around the city, to breathtaking views and conversation. As I write, we are hurdling down the mountainside back to San Jose. When the road hairpins, which is often, the bus nearly stops, and on the steepest climbs the bus rolls backward a bit as our driver manually downshifts. The danger of driving on the mountain is real; anyways, with any other driver it would be dangerous. Julio is wonderfully skilled. He navigates the mountains, pedestrians, motorbikes, and loose animals calmly. This morning and this evening as we drive down the mountain, the fog is so thick the center line in the road is barely visible. Gracias a dios para Julio.

Our first stop today was at the coffee cooperative in Santa Maria de Dota. There are many steps to processing the raw coffee berry, and many variations on this theme. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and gave a very informative tour. I took extensive notes, so this will turn into a more detailed post about smallholder coffee production.

The most incredible part of the day was at the avocado and fruit finca. The farmer high in the mountains farms two hectares of steep mountainside. He spoke Spanish with a few words of English, and at first dr. Vialobos translated for the group. I was able to ask questions in Spanish about the cost of applying gibberellic acid to the trees. This simulates the passage of the dormant season, there is no cold season cool enough here, and prompts the plant to flower. He told me the hormone is not expensive, especially compared to the pollen he has to import from California to pollinate certain varieties of apple. He offered us samples of avocado, plum, naranjilla,and apple. After this, he invited us to explore the farm. When the group broke up, out of necessity I ended up translating for others and asking questions. Thanks to his patience, gestures, and my intermediate vocabulary, we were able to learn about his bio-reactor to make natural repellent and fertilizer. The repellent is made from the anaerobic fermentation of garlic, onions, and eucalyptus. After two months, he can spray this on his trees. He can reduce this time by 50% if he adds yeast to the mixture. This solution is a natural mode of insecticide, fungicide, and fertilizer.

He and I walked further up the mountainside, and he approached a tree with yellow, oval fruits. He picked one and gave it to me. I had to ask how to eat it, and he told me to crack it open. A crisp crack revealed seeds surrounded in clear membranous sacs nestled inside cottony flesh. He told me to swallow the seeds, not chew. It was sweeter and more delicious than any candy I've ever tasted.

After this fruit, we walked further up the sleep and rocky mountain path. He showed me the black color of the soil beneath the fallen leaves, appearing much like rich Iowa soil. We walked further and conversed on how he acquired his farm (the house from his parents, the land from this grandparents), how he farms the land (with his four children, still students, and wife), and I told him what I am studying at the university.


At the end of the trip, he asked me to write to him if we discovered ideas at other organic farms. He wrote down his address for me; I hope to send him a letter and an American flag pin. To speak with him in Spanish was fulfilling and unbelievably wonderful. I don't have adequate words to describe the calm and interest I experienced in our conversation, the sun warmed mountain air, and the underlining cool, fresh breeze.

There is simply the experience.

The mountainside of Oleman's farm.

Des Moines to Dallas

We are waiting in the Dallas Fort Worth airport for our flight to San Jose. Again during this trip I will be posting from my iPod. Therefore, please forgive spelling and grammar. All posts will be edited upon returning.

I felt the same rush and my same uncontrollable child's smile captures my face. The sensation of running, running, running down the runway, the sun so bright it's almost blinding, and wondering when we will leave the ground is not unlike a feeling I've known in cross country running. Although the grass of the course was green, the blinding setting sun swathed my vision in amber and gold. Running up the rise into the sun, I had a info those vivid runner's thoughts: " I'm flying." In the morning's white sunlight, I remembered this Iowa autumn day.

The sunlight through the window is warm, and I'm beginning to remember the feeling of too much warmth. Sitting on the runway for several minutes, I told myself to remember everything about the Iowa landscape: the grey brown trees, the rolling terrain, a small flock of black birds, the dark soil, the streaks of snow. Dr. Burras' words meander into my mind. " you see what you know. You see what you value." Now that we are in the air, I see rivers sculpted into crescents, roads that are not quite grids, but indicate their desires to be. I see reflective dark water, slightly green, slightly blue. In most places, the soil is black and naked, and crests of snow line the fields. I see nature; I see agriculture.

We are boarding for our final destination!!

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica

A dear friend described the feeling of anticipation of a new adventure (and I hope he will not mind seeing his quote here): "I am in a very odd mood today, completely clueless about what tomorrow will bring. I am really looking forward to [it] but there is also a kind of disbelief and suspense... We will see..." I can't summarize how I feel more accurately. There is the feeling when parents linger to say goodbye. I feel guilty for leaving and causing them worry, guilt for not taking them with me, and a touch of eagerness brushing in my chest. Apart from this there is the absolute disbelief and suspense!

Tomorrow we depart for Costa Rica, and I wonder at how this experience will differ from my experience at the IAAS conference in Sweden. Traveling with a larger group and for touring several farms each day will be different from my experience in Sweden. 24 of my classmates from the tropical soils and crop production class will travel together, and these will be 24 new, ISU faces. Despite traveling with 24 fellows, I hope the trip will expose me to Costa Rican culture and the Spanish language. My largest worry for the trip is to be more of a tourist and less of a student. Therefore, I would like to set several goals for myself:

1) speak only in Spanish whenever native-speakers are present
2) do not project my preconceptions/assumptions onto the people I meet
3) try new experiences and take the road less traveled whenever possible
4) be completely engaged, mentally and physically, in learning about the culture and environment
5) reflect regularly

Besides the group, there is a drastically different climate to consider! Never have I visited a climate warm or rich in biodiversity as Costa Rica. Tomorrow's high in San Jose is 73 F, or 23 C. I don't know if I even remember what this feels like.

Below is my traditional suitcase photo. It is considerably lighter than my baggage for Sweden; no squashing required! Again, I've packed my homemade American flag pins to give away if appropriate. As you can see in the photo, I am excited to put my Spanish skills, and Spanish dictionary, to use. I made a list of agricultural vocabulary words to study on the plane and refer to throughout the trip.

Writing the name Costa Rica is even unbelievable. It doesn't seem like a place I could actually travel to. I can't imagine what emotions I will feel when I depart for Peru for two months...

Thanks to Colin Weaver for sharing this.