It’s another rainy afternoon in Costa Rica…
Quoc managed to lose his glasses while swimming in the river
so I’m designated to talk about our quite adventure-packed couple of days. For
our last day of work we were soaked with rain, but we managed to keep smiles on
our faces as we finished up with the labor.
The students at Paraiso High School gave us a nice
presentation to thank us and express how much they appreciated us helping them
to improve their school and spend some valuable time with them. After a long
goodbye and a lot of posing for pictures, our group split up for discussions
about gender roles in Paraiso. The boys went to Don Daniel’s house and the girls
to Doña Amable’s. We learned a lot about the specific designations of household
chores, a day in the life of the women present, and the true lack of jobs for
women in the community. Not sure what the boys learned as Quoc is a bit out of
it…
Quoc is back…thanks to Jonas! Jonas brought two pairs of
glasses along and though not the exact same prescription they’ll work for Quoc
for the remainder of the trip. Adventure race day! Too bad Lexi was out. He
adventured to the clinic with Señora Shaw after a horrible night of
sleeplessness, fever, other symptoms, and upset stomache. For similar reason
(but way less symptoms), Brianna couldn’t make it for the adventure games
either. She went back home to her host family and they took good care of her;
she did not need to go to the clinic! Yay!
The race was loads of fun! We completed five challenges:
salsa dancing, cow milking, river phrase translating, sugar cane grinding, interviewing
in español. Team Chupa Chups (Grace, Ben, Aaron, Changer) came in first place,
finishing all five challenges. Team Chibara (Justin, Zoe, Quoc, Jonas) came in second,
skipping the interview. The sugar cane juice was muy delicioso, but milking the
cow was a real struggle.
Later that day, we all went to Don Daniel’s house for a tour
of his sustainable organic farm. Everyone had a chance to feed the pigs, whose
waste was used to make methane gas for the family. Cow’s and goat’s waste was
used with home-grown probiotics and other ingredients to make green compost for
the garden, and we were able to try mixing the compost ourselves (just like
concrete). Also, we visited Daniel’s well-tended pepper and vanilla plants,
which are not only his bread and butter but also his effort to create a modeled
organic farm that coexists with the ecology of Paraiso.
The next day our group headed back to Chilamate in the
morning to explore the rain forest. William, our young tour guide, was
wonderful at giving descriptions of the flora and fauna of Chilamate’s diverse,
vibrant ecology. We stumbled upon a couple of humongous millipedes, giant
bullet ants (no one got hurt), various types of birds, and a mossy sloth
dangling high up in the branches. Although the air was densely humid, our group
was not stifled by the tropic warmth. It was a rare opportunity to be guided
through a quite pristine Central American jungle, to listen to incessant song
and buzz of all forms of life and to witness such lush wilderness.
After exploring the jungle, we were invited by Jaime, a
medicine man of sorts, to learn about the medicinal plants, fruits, and
vegetables he grows in his backyard. He had plants that can repel bugs and help
heal wounds. Some fruits and plants can cure constipation. We tasted some
unsavory, bitter leaves and some very sour oranges. Still, we got to drink
fresh coconut water that really refreshed us on such a sweaty afternoon. Jaime
also offered us a fruit whose sap can be used to make blue tattoos that last
for about a week. Don’t be too horrified if your children come home with weird
looking (or slightly inappropriate) blue paintings on their skins, they will go
away soon enough.
In honor of Mother’s Day and their mom’s birthday
(August 15), Mrs. Crowner and Señora
Shaw took their family out for dinner. It was the first time their mom had EVER
been out to dinner.
Sunday is our last night with our homestay families. It’s
hard to believe that our time here is so quickly coming to an end. It’s been
quite the adventure!
Hasta luego,
Brianna and Quoc
