Sophomore Year: January 2o13
During this year, we were able to travel to San Jose, Costa Rica as well as smaller towns around San Jose, and in it's mountains. For this trip, we did a bunch of different things as well as were able to see and be very close to the border of Costa Rica and Panama!
We first stayed in a Costa Rican hotel called La Condesa. Not many eventful things happened here. Just mainly enjoying Costa Rican living and getting ready for the coming days. The next day we drove for about four hours through Costa Rica up into the mountains where we were welcomed by the Bri-Bri Tribe, a going extinct tribe, where they housed and fed us quite possibly the best food that I've ever eaten.. We walked down the street to the Costa Rican old folks home and picked up a lot of trash that surrounded their home, spiced up their building and painted parts of it, and planted trees around their home.
While we were there, we visited EARTH University. I believe this is the only University in all of Costa Rica. We were able to visit their campus, gardens, and stayed in their college campus dorms! While visiting the gardens, we saw different ways of garden and agriculture techniques that were really interesting to experience hands-on.
We visited a farm that basically processed manure into energy. It was a really cool Idea, although a very smelly one. I got very close to a bunch of cows, and water buffalo as well as pigs and some goats.
Next, we visited the Doka Coffee Plantation. It was up in the hilly region of San Jose. They took us around the plantation to show us the steps that coffee goes through before it is shipped off and sold. Once we finished with that, we went into the fields and were able to pick the coffee cherries ourselves. They guides told us to take one and eat the outer layer of the coffee cherry, and it was really sweet. It was awesome. We all had our own baskets and we all kind of had a competition of who could pick the most coffee cherries. It was a lot of fun, and of course, we finished off the Doka visit with a visit to the gift shop where we all bought chocolate covered espresso beans, and left with very upset stomachs.
We visited a banana factory/plantation where we watched workers take banana bundles from the trees and sent them on the banana train, and watched the process of what bananas go through until they are ready to be sent off and sold. I don't think I've ever seen anyone sticker anything as fast as the ladies I was watching sticker bundles of bananas.
Last but not least, my finca. My finca was a family of three that lived on a mini farm. These people only spoke spanish, but they were very kind and patient with us while we were speaking with them. They made us lunch, which was equally as delicious as the Bri-Bri meals, and they showed us around their farm. The husband cut open some fresh-from- the-tree coconuts, and cut off pure sugarcane from its tree, and we chewed on it while we walked around the farm. It was amazing. Later, we walked down the street to their neighbors home where we played with the little girls in the neighborhood, and the boys played soccer with the Costa Rican men in the big field that this other family owned. All in all, it was a phenomenal trip, one that I will never be able to forget.
We first stayed in a Costa Rican hotel called La Condesa. Not many eventful things happened here. Just mainly enjoying Costa Rican living and getting ready for the coming days. The next day we drove for about four hours through Costa Rica up into the mountains where we were welcomed by the Bri-Bri Tribe, a going extinct tribe, where they housed and fed us quite possibly the best food that I've ever eaten.. We walked down the street to the Costa Rican old folks home and picked up a lot of trash that surrounded their home, spiced up their building and painted parts of it, and planted trees around their home.
While we were there, we visited EARTH University. I believe this is the only University in all of Costa Rica. We were able to visit their campus, gardens, and stayed in their college campus dorms! While visiting the gardens, we saw different ways of garden and agriculture techniques that were really interesting to experience hands-on.
We visited a farm that basically processed manure into energy. It was a really cool Idea, although a very smelly one. I got very close to a bunch of cows, and water buffalo as well as pigs and some goats.
Next, we visited the Doka Coffee Plantation. It was up in the hilly region of San Jose. They took us around the plantation to show us the steps that coffee goes through before it is shipped off and sold. Once we finished with that, we went into the fields and were able to pick the coffee cherries ourselves. They guides told us to take one and eat the outer layer of the coffee cherry, and it was really sweet. It was awesome. We all had our own baskets and we all kind of had a competition of who could pick the most coffee cherries. It was a lot of fun, and of course, we finished off the Doka visit with a visit to the gift shop where we all bought chocolate covered espresso beans, and left with very upset stomachs.
We visited a banana factory/plantation where we watched workers take banana bundles from the trees and sent them on the banana train, and watched the process of what bananas go through until they are ready to be sent off and sold. I don't think I've ever seen anyone sticker anything as fast as the ladies I was watching sticker bundles of bananas.
Last but not least, my finca. My finca was a family of three that lived on a mini farm. These people only spoke spanish, but they were very kind and patient with us while we were speaking with them. They made us lunch, which was equally as delicious as the Bri-Bri meals, and they showed us around their farm. The husband cut open some fresh-from- the-tree coconuts, and cut off pure sugarcane from its tree, and we chewed on it while we walked around the farm. It was amazing. Later, we walked down the street to their neighbors home where we played with the little girls in the neighborhood, and the boys played soccer with the Costa Rican men in the big field that this other family owned. All in all, it was a phenomenal trip, one that I will never be able to forget.
These are some more touristy kinds of pictures, but the mountains were beautiful from the plane. and I got a good shot of a rainbow while we were driving around the city.
EARTH University Gardens
Manure Processing Farm
Doka Coffee Plantation
My Finca
Witty Whitted's quick witted ones.
Our Costa Rica family.
Our Costa Rica family.