I have arrived in Costa Rica and all is well. The initial shock of seeing shanties covered with razor-wire and armored steal doors was brought my attention. Also, I had my camcorder out for a few moments and my friend Adrian said, “I should not put myself in danger.” I wondered what have I signed up for. Then things started to get better. We when to his town which was right down the road from San Jose to the town know as Cartago. I was a little smaller and the people did not look as dangerous as San Jose. His house was nice but rather simple. I went to bed. The next day, the two of us went to a Volcano which was rather amazing! There was a small store there; as well a creature that resembled something between an anteater and a skunk. In addition to this, the bus trip up to the volcano was rather enchanting with lots of different micro climates. Finial, I was picked up at his house by a girl that was couch surfing with. I fell in love instantly. She was bi-lingual, cute, and enjoyed riding bikes. She had two sisters, one of which was an identical twin. All three were more than ready to converse with me. I then was cough in a cross road which one I liked the most. I am sure that what lies tomorrow will defiantly be an adventure that I am ready to tackle. Adios… .
The first day of class in Costa Rica: My day started at about 5 am in a small town in the rainforest know as Monteverde. There my friend Marot Cate and I have be playing for the past couple of days. We did such actives a cannoning and zip lining. Anyways, we left Monteverde at around 6:30 am and to arrive in San Jose around 11:00 am. Then, I took her to a bus station so she could go play at the beach while I had to go meet my class. I checked in around 1pm. I waited and waited for my class, but for some reason they never came. After a sometime I when to the front desk and they said that my class was down stairs. It ended up that the hotel made a mistake with the rooms. We had an informative lecture and then went to dinner which was rather tasty. Finally it was time for me to go to bed.
Day 2 = The work begins... The first challenge of the trip is trying to type on a Spanish key board. Anyways, the first place we visited was Tico electronics which is a producer of low-tec electronics. Low-tec electronics are anything from joy sticks for aircraft to small motors for utilities. There are 397 employees in the facility. As for Marketing, Tico uses everything from the web, word of mouth, and government supported institutions both pro-comer and in due. Pro-comer means the government, and in due is non-government business. Customers of Tico have compleat say so in what in what Tico will manufacture. Some of the company's that Tico produces for are Air Bus, General Electric, and even the U.S. Army. Tico’s comparative advantage is cheap labor that is relative skilled in comparison to their direct competition China. From an outside view Tico seams to look like a sweat shop at first, but after a while the employees seam to be having a decent time with their jobs. It was the cleanest and most well put together facility that I have ever seen. This might be why Tico has received the ISO 9100 accreditation. After Tico, the class took a trip to the school know as IÑCAE Business School. I have never hear of IÑCAE before, but the school is accreditation at the same accreditation as Harvard and Thunder-burg University. The school is in the 20 best schools in the world and number 1 in Central America.The school is rather different from anything that I have ever seen before, since the classes are tought in two languages and soon to be three. Also, the campus its self is not in any country, it has the same status as the United Ñations. The mission of the school is to creat leaders, and they have done a great job achieving this by having 20 % of the top companies in Centro Latino Americano. The school was founded in the 1960’s when JFK came down to Costa Rica. Currently the president is Arturo Condo. All students must live on campus and the classes start at 7:30 am and the students work until 12 at night. There is a second campus for the school located in Nigcargue that specializes in entrepreneurship which is right up my allie. Finally, the class had a late night history lessen. I thought it was a normal class, and that dress should not matter. In order to not be late for class I came straight from the hot tub to the class. I was then inform that wearing a towel over my swim suet was not fine, haha. The presentation was about the tourisim industry. I learned about the term enclaves which are areas of isolated development. In addition, the term clientelism which is a way politics works to get the positive aspect in as to respect to political rights. The crisis of bipartidism and social chrisians that help to complicate matters. Also, that the average Costa Rican or Tico worker works about 48 hours a week with a minimum wage of 400 a week.
Day 3= On day this day we focused our attention on hospitals. Two of the hospitals were private and one was public. There was a drastic contrast between the two two types of hospitals. The first one was private and it was located right in the heart of downtown San Jose. The name of the hospital was Cilinica Biblica. It was really nice inside with nicer facilities than most in U.S.A. which I found rather amazing considering this was supposed to be a third world county. The nurses are all RN's or if they are not a RN then they soon will be one. Each nurse is responsible for only three patients. The cost of the hospitals is about one fourth the cost of that in the U.S.A., this allows for the travel tourism industry. 17 percent of the hospital clients are foreigners. Customer satisfaction is great there. Each floor is equipped with a person that speaks English. It only cost seventy dollars to see a doctor.
Next, the class traveled to the public hospital known as National Hospital. This was a drastic change from the private hospital. This one was primarily out -patient, but right down a hall there was some rooms to keep patients in. Prescription are mailed directly to peoples house, Note, the prescriptions are strictly regulated by the state. The three levels of this hospital were basic care, geriatrics, and specialized needs. Home hospice is free for the families, and nurses are provided for as long as needed. If the state is unable to pay the employees, then all the employees will go on strike and until they receive their money. A neat fact was that Pope John Paul came to Costa Rica in 1983 and is still thought of as number one.
In conclusion for the day, the bus brought us to Hospital CIMA. This private hospital is known international for medical tourism and that is there primary segment of the market. This hospital is one of many that are located in such counties as Mexico, Brazil, and most of Central America. It will be interesting to see what sort of revenue this will bring to the country in the future.
Day 5 =05/27/11 POAS VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK/ CAFÉ TRES GENERACIONES COFFIEE PLANTION
The day started rather early in the morning with a 6am leave time. This was key factor in being able to see the Poas Volcano. Our tour guide said, “out of the last nine times they had tried to see the Poas Volcano the weather had not been promising and that all that could be seen was clouds.” On the other hand, we were the fortunate ones, and when we arrived there we had a nice view of the amazing volcanic canyon. Poas is currently the only active volcano in Costa Rica. It tends to erupted for a few moments during the day. The eruptions are not made really of lava but more or less pressurized clouds that rise above the canyon. Next, the class took a little day hike to an inactive canyon that was a few yards away. There was a verity of different birds there. Most impressive was an eagle of some sort and a unique little humming bird.
Following the excursion from the Poas Volcano, the class was in need of a little caffeine fix; therefore, what better way to suffice this need but to go to a coffee plantation. Café Tres Generaciones Coffiee Plantion was the solution to this problem. This plantation was the largest and oldest privately owned coffee plantation in Costa Rica.
The fruit of the coffee plant is known as the cherry, and in the middle of the cherry is the coffee bean itself. A small percentage of coffee beans only have one single bean this is referred to as a peaberry. Peaberry coffee beans are the absolute best coffee in the world without adjusting for personal preference. The coffee process starts by having Nigerians that come from up north to pick the cherries. After the cherries are picked they are placed into a large metal bends that help to measure the correct amounts of the beans. Then, all of the berries are poured into a large pit and that is then filled with water for a day. All the poor quality beans will float to the top while the highest quality ones will remain at the bottom of the pit. After that all the good beans are pushed into lots of different slots to be sorted. This is another way separate the different qualities of beans. At this point they are pressed to remove all the pulp and the skins that are there then used for oils and alcohol. The beans that floated are cooked in a rotating oven, and the ones in the slots are raked out over a large flat concrete surface to cure. In order to make decaffeinated coffee the Germans import some of the beans, and then use chemicals to extract the caffeine for with no added charge. The reason why there is not a cost involved because they use the caffeine for energy drinks like Redbull. After going through the little tour of the coffee plantation, I feel as though I am much more informed about the second most consumed beverage in the world. To rap up my excursion to the coffee plantation, I purchased several bags of this coffee to bring back to the states as a little souvenir.
To finish up the day the class travel out into the middle of no ware to our home stay. The girls were put into one house and the boys where place in another home. This posed a bit of a problem because the girls knew a far larger amount of Spanish than us boys. The boys and I decided to embrace our inability to speak Spanish by picking up the text book from home and a dictionary that one one of us brought. Somehow we were able to have dinner, play football, and cards without the help of the more fluent girls.
The home stay was a great way to actually see the sustainable development first hand. The family we were staying with had a sixteen year old girl who was exactly like my sister in that she was always on her cell phone. The difference was in order for her to go to school she had to leave at five in the morning in order to catch the bus that would take her into town. The father worked a few hours away as a security guard somewhere. The mother would stay at home to keep it from being robbed. She also ran a small grocery store out of the side of the house. When anyone in the small village need something all they would have to do is knock on the door and the store would open.
As for sustainable development the farmer that the girls were staying with was a perfect for the title. His two primary crops were pineapples and sugar cane. All his farming was conducted by hand with minimal impact on the environment. To plant more pineapples all he would do is simply pull out the middle of one pineapple and place it in a little hole that was made by wiggling his machete around. In his yard near his house there where the pigs. The pigs waste was used to make methane gas which then powered his stove in his house. The cows made milk that was used for producing cheese. There was even a plant that acted like a pain killer once it was applied to a hurt area of the body. That evening we hopped in the bus to see the sunset. The place we went to had two rivers that ran into each other. This was a perfect place to end the day.
Day 7 =05/29/11 SAN MARCOS - LA FORTUNA/ ARENAL - HOT SPRINGS
The home stay was fun for what it was, but after a while it is always nice to get back to modern conveniences. What better way of doing this than to stay at an Eco Lounge. The Eco Lounge had a perfectly well maintained grassy area with pool. The best way to describe it would be “paradise.”
This was the first time were the class was finally able to relax for some time. Playing around the Eco Lounge was great, but not as perfect as the Arenal hot springs which were only a few minutes down the road. At the hot springs there were about 6 different pools to swim in decreasing in order of hotness- the hottest tub being on top and the coolest on the bottom. At this point the class started to feel all our hard work was starting to pay off.
Day 8 =05/30/11 ARENAL VOLCANO- WATERFALL/ INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY MALEKU We had a little lecture on what it takes to become considered as an eco-lounge. The girl’s name that owned The Eco Lounge was named Anya. The correct title was a Ecotourism Hostel in terms of taxation. At first there were lots of problems that came up such as language skills, no electricity, and lots of hard work. Initially, they were only able to serve breakfast but as time went on breakfast and dinner could also be included. Some new features included washer and dryer as well as matching sheets. By the time Anya went to the bank for a loan they were granted enough money to add 10 additional rooms and the pool. In order to have the title of a Eco Lounge they must: use zero chemicals, conserve nature, recycle, outreach the schools, and add solar panels on top of the buildings. After that we went to the largest waterfall have ever seen. By swimming around the perimeter of the pool at the bottom of it, we were able to go behind it where there was a little cave. The mist that was produced was rather amazing and it brought on feelings of excitement.
After lunch, which I was five minutes late to because I had shin splints from running down the mountain in boots, the class went to go see the Maleku Indian tribe. They spoke to us about the sad story of having all of the local population of plants and animals go extinct. Everyone danced around the camp fire with local interments that where provided. To finish things up we all went to the poison dart frog area. There were two types which where rather pretty to look at but not to touch.
Day 9 =05/31/11 ARENAL LAKE/ LIBERIA CITY/ RINCON DE LA VIEJA VOLCANO
It was time for us to get back on the road at this point. The bus took us around the Arenal lake with is the largest body of fresh water in Costa Rica, also it is where 20 percent of the electricity is generated for the entire country through hydroelectric power. I personally became rather car sick because I was sitting in the back of the bus where it was bumping around wildly. I really felt like it was time for me to die. After I the bus stopped I moved forward to the front seat and everything became better almost instantly.
At last the class was able to visit a truly exciting place to visit. The place was called Astro Rocket and the person who gave us the presentation was named Ronald and his title was director. His brother Franklin was a astrophysics from MIT. His brother had gone to space 7 times and he was the most famous person in all of Costa Rica. Franklin came to the U.S.A with only $50 to his name and a tie and jacket which he would wear everyday. He ended up receiving a full ride to collage for four years. He was chosen a one out of 3,500 applicants. Currently the company has two facilities one Costa Rica and one in Texas. Only about 10% of the entire is done in Costa Rica. The mission that the company has been working on for the past twenty years is called the VASIMR Engine. The company is separated into many parts waste management, education, medical equipment, and space engines. The primary objective of the company is to have space engine that can go 100 meters at 8km/second. This will take out the Russians that currently do this. This difference in cost will be from 210,000,000/year by the Russians to a cost of only 10,800,000 by Astro. Later on the mission will be to help clean up the 500,000 satellites that are orbiting around the earth on any given day. It will be at 1/3 the cost that current companies spend on taking their satellites to geo stationary orbit. The way the actual engine works is thought the use of plasma and magnets that help to control supper conductive matter. This is the business of the future, also known as UX configuration or plasma detachment. The goal is to have the engine active and good to go by 2014 for lift off. It will be intrusting to see what Astro Rocket ends up doing next.
After being inspired, it was time to travel to the second home stay. Upon our arrival, there were eight of the little town’s girls all dressed in formal dance dresses. They did a well rehearsed little dance number. The youngest girls in the dance number where a little behind in their dance steps but that made it so cute. Then, it was the classes turn to participate. We had to show how bad we really where at dancing. After dancing it was time to separate into our appropriate living locations. Because I knew the most Spanish out of the boys, I was placed inside the household that spoke absolutely no English. This posed a bit of a challenge that was good for me.
I was awoken at 4am to start my day. The plan was to meet everyone in the village and hike to the top of the mountain. It was rather important to wear long pants and bug spray. Little did I know that there would be more mosquitoes flying around our legs than I have ever seen before in my entire life. We climbed to about 2,000 meters from around sea level. The view from the summit almost made one breathless. After that we climbed back down, and stopped by a local little cave. There we found the largest cockroach in the world, but we did not tell the girls because we felt like they might become scared and freak out on us. We came back to our homestays to have lunch.
After lunch, everyone in the town that could fit got on the bus. We took a little trip down the road to a rather large river. After a short wait everyone jumped on a long narrow boat to cruise up the river. There in the river was a verity of birds, lizards, and bugs. The most exciting animals were the crocodiles that where all around to boat ready to eat us for lunch. On the shoreline there where clams that the local people use to live off of. After the boat excursion the village came back home to get some rest since in the morning it was time for the class to set off to the beach.
Day 11 =06/02/11 CORRAL DE PIEDRA/ NICOYA/ SAMARA BEACH
It was time to leave the homestay early in the morning. The reason being was that everyone had been inflicted by numerous mosquito bites and where in a great deal of pain. Personally, I was tired of filling up my toilet with a bucket of water because there was not enough water presser to flush it. The drive took most of the day but by the time we arrived there we realized that the beach was what we had been waiting for.
Day 12 =06/03/11 SAMARA BEACH ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN
The beach is a great place to relax; also a great place to be robbed. I was lucky enough to prepare for the second event as best I could but I did not think it would happen to me. I was playing at the beach all day by myself since my fellow classmates were more concerned about their tans than having fun. I was planning a game of football with the locals and cracking coconuts on rocks and everything thing was perfect until I came home. I opened my little bag where my wallet, towel, and sunglasses should have been. My wallet was still there with no money in it. The sunglasses case was still there with no glasses. The little boys must have robbed me when I was not looking. It was not the end of the world because I was only out $30 and the lesson learned is invaluable. The class had dinner that night and everyone fell fast asleep.
Day two of being at the beach was an exciting day. It was time for the class to go sea kayaking and snorkeling. There was three one person and three two person kayaks to choose from. I made the correct decision in my book to choose the one person, since everyone in the two person ones seemed to be battling over paddling the whole time. The excursion brought the class to a small island right outside Samara beach. There the class found an amazing coral reef. There were lots of blue and yellow types of fish. I personally liked the large blue starfish. While exiting the water, I caught a glimpse of a rather large sea snake which cause me to blast my way right out of the water. We made our way back to Samara beach by kayak. Once we made it to the shoreline it was time to beach ourselves. This was easier said than done almost everyone flipped their boats, myself not included. It was time to go back to San Jose for our free night and day. A few of use made it out that night for a perfect farewell departing.
The next day the girls wanted to go shopping as usual. As for me I did not make it out to the stores since I was catching up on some much needed sleep. Everyone packed their bags because they had to leave at three in the morning; in contrast, I was able to sleep in until later in the morning. Dr. Mauricio finished his lectures by saying that there is not a correct method to development. The important thing is to better you understanding of others and try to make the best decision as possible in life.
I had an early breakfast and packed my bag. Right before I was supposed to leave there was this oversized spider that would not die. I have up battling him after a wail and just left my hotel room. That’s one of those things that I can gladly live without. I jumped into a taxi to make my connection bus to the airport. Before I was able to leave I had to grab a new shirt because all of my clothing smelled so bad that would make anyone on the airplane half sick. As it ends up, I had to change my flight to Huston Texas since my flight was cancelled. I made it though the customs in record time to catch my fight to Raleigh. I made it back to Raleigh around 11:30pm at night where my dad awaited my arrival. All I could think about was what a trip it had been and that I was happy to be safe and sound back on American soil.
To conclude, there are lots of different things that I learned during my trip to Costa Rica that will prove to be invaluable throughout the rest of my life. I feel strongly that it is important to see what impacts Costa Rica has on the United States of America and vice versa. We are all on the same planet and the choices that each of us makes carries though to everyone.
Three things about me
ReplyDelete1. I am always out going and ready for anything.
2. My favorite pastime is to travel.
3. I need some work on my Blogging abilities.
I have arrived in Costa Rica and all is well. The initial shock of seeing shanties covered with razor-wire and armored steal doors was brought my attention. Also, I had my camcorder out for a few moments and my friend Adrian said, “I should not put myself in danger.” I wondered what have I signed up for. Then things started to get better. We when to his town which was right down the road from San Jose to the town know as Cartago. I was a little smaller and the people did not look as dangerous as San Jose. His house was nice but rather simple. I went to bed. The next day, the two of us went to a Volcano which was rather amazing! There was a small store there; as well a creature that resembled something between an anteater and a skunk. In addition to this, the bus trip up to the volcano was rather enchanting with lots of different micro climates. Finial, I was picked up at his house by a girl that was couch surfing with. I fell in love instantly. She was bi-lingual, cute, and enjoyed riding bikes. She had two sisters, one of which was an identical twin. All three were more than ready to converse with me. I then was cough in a cross road which one I liked the most. I am sure that what lies tomorrow will defiantly be an adventure that I am ready to tackle. Adios…
ReplyDelete.
The first day of class in Costa Rica: My day started at about 5 am in a small town in the rainforest know as Monteverde. There my friend Marot Cate and I have be playing for the past couple of days. We did such actives a cannoning and zip lining. Anyways, we left Monteverde at around 6:30 am and to arrive in San Jose around 11:00 am. Then, I took her to a bus station so she could go play at the beach while I had to go meet my class. I checked in around 1pm. I waited and waited for my class, but for some reason they never came. After a sometime I when to the front desk and they said that my class was down stairs. It ended up that the hotel made a mistake with the rooms. We had an informative lecture and then went to dinner which was rather tasty. Finally it was time for me to go to bed.
ReplyDeleteDay 2 = The work begins... The first challenge of the trip is trying to type on a Spanish key board. Anyways, the first place we visited was Tico electronics which is a producer of low-tec electronics. Low-tec electronics are anything from joy sticks for aircraft to small motors for utilities. There are 397 employees in the facility. As for Marketing, Tico uses everything from the web, word of mouth, and government supported institutions both pro-comer and in due. Pro-comer means the government, and in due is non-government business. Customers of Tico have compleat say so in what in what Tico will manufacture. Some of the company's that Tico produces for are Air Bus, General Electric, and even the U.S. Army. Tico’s comparative advantage is cheap labor that is relative skilled in comparison to their direct competition China. From an outside view Tico seams to look like a sweat shop at first, but after a while the employees seam to be having a decent time with their jobs. It was the cleanest and most well put together facility that I have ever seen. This might be why Tico has received the ISO 9100 accreditation.
ReplyDeleteAfter Tico, the class took a trip to the school know as IÑCAE Business School. I have never hear of IÑCAE before, but the school is accreditation at the same accreditation as Harvard and Thunder-burg University. The school is in the 20 best schools in the world and number 1 in Central America.The school is rather different from anything that I have ever seen before, since the classes are tought in two languages and soon to be three. Also, the campus its self is not in any country, it has the same status as the United Ñations. The mission of the school is to creat leaders, and they have done a great job achieving this by having 20 % of the top companies in Centro Latino Americano. The school was founded in the 1960’s when JFK came down to Costa Rica. Currently the president is Arturo Condo. All students must live on campus and the classes start at 7:30 am and the students work until 12 at night. There is a second campus for the school located in Nigcargue that specializes in entrepreneurship which is right up my allie.
Finally, the class had a late night history lessen. I thought it was a normal class, and that dress should not matter. In order to not be late for class I came straight from the hot tub to the class. I was then inform that wearing a towel over my swim suet was not fine, haha. The presentation was about the tourisim industry. I learned about the term enclaves which are areas of isolated development. In addition, the term clientelism which is a way politics works to get the positive aspect in as to respect to political rights. The crisis of bipartidism and social chrisians that help to complicate matters. Also, that the average Costa Rican or Tico worker works about 48 hours a week with a minimum wage of 400 a week.
Day 3= On day this day we focused our attention on hospitals. Two of the hospitals were private and one was public. There was a drastic contrast between the two two types of hospitals. The first one was private and it was located right in the heart of downtown San Jose. The name of the hospital was Cilinica Biblica. It was really nice inside with nicer facilities than most in U.S.A. which I found rather amazing considering this was supposed to be a third world county. The nurses are all RN's or if they are not a RN then they soon will be one. Each nurse is responsible for only three patients. The cost of the hospitals is about one fourth the cost of that in the U.S.A., this allows for the travel tourism industry. 17 percent of the hospital clients are foreigners. Customer satisfaction is great there. Each floor is equipped with a person that speaks English. It only cost seventy dollars to see a doctor.
ReplyDeleteNext, the class traveled to the public hospital known as National Hospital. This was a drastic change from the private hospital. This one was primarily out -patient, but right down a hall there was some rooms to keep patients in. Prescription are mailed directly to peoples house, Note, the prescriptions are strictly regulated by the state. The three levels of this hospital were basic care, geriatrics, and specialized needs. Home hospice is free for the families, and nurses are provided for as long as needed. If the state is unable to pay the employees, then all the employees will go on strike and until they receive their money. A neat fact was that Pope John Paul came to Costa Rica in 1983 and is still thought of as number one.
In conclusion for the day, the bus brought us to Hospital CIMA. This private hospital is known international for medical tourism and that is there primary segment of the market. This hospital is one of many that are located in such counties as Mexico, Brazil, and most of Central America. It will be interesting to see what sort of revenue this will bring to the country in the future.
Day 5 =05/27/11 POAS VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK/ CAFÉ TRES
ReplyDeleteGENERACIONES COFFIEE PLANTION
The day started rather early in the morning with a 6am leave
time. This was key factor in being able to see the Poas Volcano. Our tour guide
said, “out of the last nine times they had tried to see the Poas Volcano the
weather had not been promising and that all that could be seen was clouds.” On
the other hand, we were the fortunate ones, and when we arrived there we had a
nice view of the amazing volcanic canyon. Poas is currently the only active volcano
in Costa Rica. It tends to erupted for a few moments during the day. The eruptions
are not made really of lava but more or less pressurized clouds that rise above
the canyon. Next, the class took a little day hike to an inactive canyon that was a few yards away. There was a verity of different birds there. Most impressive was an eagle of some sort and a unique little humming bird.
Following the excursion from the Poas Volcano, the class was
in need of a little caffeine fix; therefore, what better way to suffice this
need but to go to a coffee plantation. Café Tres Generaciones Coffiee Plantion was the solution to this problem. This plantation was the largest and oldest privately owned coffee plantation in
Costa Rica.
The fruit of the coffee plant is known as the cherry, and in the
middle of the cherry is the coffee bean itself. A small percentage of coffee
beans only have one single bean this is referred to as a peaberry. Peaberry
coffee beans are the absolute best coffee in the world without adjusting for
personal preference. The coffee process starts by having Nigerians that come
from up north to pick the cherries. After the cherries are picked they are
placed into a large metal bends that help to measure the correct amounts of the
beans. Then, all of the berries are poured into a large pit and that is then
filled with water for a day. All the poor quality beans will float to the top
while the highest quality ones will remain at the bottom of the pit. After that all the
good beans are pushed into lots of different slots to be sorted. This is another way separate the different qualities of beans. At this point they are pressed to remove all the pulp and the skins that are there then used for oils and alcohol. The beans that floated are cooked in a rotating oven, and the ones in the slots are raked out over a large flat concrete surface to cure. In order to make decaffeinated coffee the Germans import some of the beans, and then use chemicals to extract the caffeine for with no added charge. The reason why there is not a cost involved because they use the caffeine for energy drinks like Redbull. After going through the little tour of the coffee plantation, I feel as though I am much more informed about the second most consumed beverage in the world. To rap up my excursion to the coffee plantation, I purchased several bags of this coffee to bring back to the states as a little souvenir.
To finish up the day the class travel out into the middle of no ware to our home stay. The girls were put into one house and the boys where place in another home. This posed a bit of a problem because the girls knew a far larger amount of Spanish than us boys. The boys and I decided to embrace our inability to speak Spanish by picking up the text book from home and a dictionary that one one of us brought. Somehow we were able to have dinner, play football, and cards without the help of the more fluent girls.
Day 6 =05/28/11 SAN MARCOS DE CUTRIS
ReplyDeleteThe home stay was a great way to actually see the sustainable development first hand. The family we were staying with had a sixteen year old girl who was exactly like my sister in that she was always on her cell phone. The difference was in order for her to go to school she had to leave at five in the morning in order to catch the bus that would take her into town. The father worked a few hours away as a security guard somewhere. The mother would stay at home to keep it from being robbed. She also ran a small grocery store out of the side of the house. When anyone in the small village need something all they would have to do is knock on the door and the store would open.
As for sustainable development the farmer that the girls were staying with was a perfect for the title. His two primary crops were pineapples and sugar cane. All his farming was conducted by hand with minimal impact on the environment. To plant more pineapples all he would do is simply pull out the middle of one pineapple and place it in a little hole that was made by wiggling his machete around. In his yard near his house there where the pigs. The pigs waste was used to make methane gas which then powered his stove in his house. The cows made milk that was used for producing cheese. There was even a plant that acted like a pain killer once it was applied to a hurt area of the body. That evening we hopped in the bus to see the sunset. The place we went to had two rivers that ran into each other. This was a perfect place to end the day.
Day 7 =05/29/11 SAN MARCOS - LA FORTUNA/ ARENAL - HOT
ReplyDeleteSPRINGS
The home stay was fun for what it was, but after a while it is always nice to get back to modern conveniences. What better way of doing this than to stay at an Eco Lounge. The Eco Lounge had a perfectly well maintained grassy area with pool. The best way to describe it would be “paradise.”
This was the first time were the class was finally able to relax for some time. Playing around the Eco Lounge was great, but not as perfect as the Arenal hot springs which were only a few minutes down the road. At the hot springs there were about 6 different pools to swim in decreasing in order of hotness- the hottest tub being on top and the coolest on the bottom. At this point the class started to feel all our hard work was starting to pay off.
Day 8 =05/30/11 ARENAL VOLCANO- WATERFALL/ INDIGENOUS
ReplyDeleteCOMMUNITY MALEKU
We had a little lecture on what it takes to become considered as an eco-lounge. The girl’s name that owned The Eco Lounge was named Anya. The correct title was a Ecotourism Hostel in terms of taxation. At first there were lots of problems that came up such as language skills, no electricity, and lots of hard work. Initially, they were only able to serve breakfast but as time went on breakfast and dinner could also be included. Some new features included washer and dryer as well as matching sheets. By the time Anya went to the bank for a loan they were granted enough money to add 10 additional rooms and the pool. In order to have the title of a Eco Lounge they must: use zero chemicals, conserve nature, recycle, outreach the schools, and add solar panels on top of the buildings. After that we went to the largest waterfall have ever seen. By swimming around the perimeter of the pool at the bottom of it, we were able to go behind it where there was a little cave. The mist that was produced was rather amazing and it brought on feelings of excitement.
After lunch, which I was five minutes late to because I had shin splints from running down the mountain in boots, the class went to go see the Maleku Indian tribe. They spoke to us about the sad story of having all of the local population of plants and animals go extinct. Everyone danced around the camp fire with local interments that where provided. To finish things up we all went to the poison dart frog area. There were two types which where rather pretty to look at but not to touch.
Day 9 =05/31/11 ARENAL LAKE/ LIBERIA CITY/ RINCON DE LA
ReplyDeleteVIEJA VOLCANO
It was time for us to get back on the road at this point. The bus took us around the Arenal lake with is the largest body of fresh water in Costa Rica, also it is where 20 percent of the electricity is generated for the entire country through hydroelectric power. I personally became rather car sick because I was sitting in the back of the bus where it was bumping around wildly. I really felt like it was time for me to die. After I the bus stopped I moved forward to the front seat and everything became better almost instantly.
At last the class was able to visit a truly exciting place to visit. The place was called Astro Rocket and the person who gave us the presentation was named Ronald and his title was director. His brother Franklin was a astrophysics from MIT. His brother had gone to space 7 times and he was the most famous person in all of Costa Rica. Franklin came to the U.S.A with only $50 to his name and a tie and jacket which he would wear everyday. He ended up receiving a full ride to collage for four years. He was chosen a one out of 3,500 applicants. Currently the company has two facilities one Costa Rica and one in Texas. Only about 10% of the entire is done in Costa Rica. The mission that the company has been working on for the past twenty years is called the VASIMR Engine. The company is separated into many parts waste management, education, medical equipment, and space engines. The primary objective of the company is to have space engine that can go 100 meters at 8km/second. This will take out the Russians that currently do this. This difference in cost will be from 210,000,000/year by the Russians to a cost of only 10,800,000 by Astro. Later on the mission will be to help clean up the 500,000 satellites that are orbiting around the earth on any given day. It will be at 1/3 the cost that current companies spend on taking their satellites to geo stationary orbit. The way the actual engine works is thought the use of plasma and magnets that help to control supper conductive matter. This is the business of the future, also known as UX configuration or plasma detachment. The goal is to have the engine active and good to go by 2014 for lift off. It will be intrusting to see what Astro Rocket ends up doing next.
After being inspired, it was time to travel to the second home stay. Upon our arrival, there were eight of the little town’s girls all dressed in formal dance dresses. They did a well rehearsed little dance number. The youngest girls in the dance number where a little behind in their dance steps but that made it so cute. Then, it was the classes turn to participate. We had to show how bad we really where at dancing. After dancing it was time to separate into our appropriate living locations. Because I knew the most Spanish out of the boys, I was placed inside the household that spoke absolutely no English. This posed a bit of a challenge that was good for me.
Day 10 =06/01/11 LIBERIA/ PAPAGAYO GULF/ NICOYA
ReplyDeleteI was awoken at 4am to start my day. The plan was to meet everyone in the village and hike to the top of the mountain. It was rather important to wear long pants and bug spray. Little did I know that there would be more mosquitoes flying around our legs than I have ever seen before in my entire life. We climbed to about 2,000 meters from around sea level. The view from the summit almost made one breathless. After that we climbed back down, and stopped by a local little cave. There we found the largest cockroach in the world, but we did not tell the girls because we felt like they might become scared and freak out on us. We came back to our homestays to have lunch.
After lunch, everyone in the town that could fit got on the bus. We took a little trip down the road to a rather large river. After a short wait everyone jumped on a long narrow boat to cruise up the river. There in the river was a verity of birds, lizards, and bugs. The most exciting animals were the crocodiles that where all around to boat ready to eat us for lunch. On the shoreline there where clams that the local people use to live off of. After the boat excursion the village came back home to get some rest since in the morning it was time for the class to set off to the beach.
Day 11 =06/02/11 CORRAL DE PIEDRA/ NICOYA/ SAMARA BEACH
ReplyDeleteIt was time to leave the homestay early in the morning. The reason being was that everyone had been inflicted by numerous mosquito bites and where in a great deal of pain. Personally, I was tired of filling up my toilet with a bucket of water because there was not enough water presser to flush it. The drive took most of the day but by the time we arrived there we realized that the beach was what we had been waiting for.
Day 12 =06/03/11 SAMARA BEACH ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN
ReplyDeleteThe beach is a great place to relax; also a great place to be robbed. I was lucky enough to prepare for the second event as best I could but I did not think it would happen to me. I was playing at the beach all day by myself since my fellow classmates were more concerned about their tans than having fun. I was planning a game of football with the locals and cracking coconuts on rocks and everything thing was perfect until I came home. I opened my little bag where my wallet, towel, and sunglasses should have been. My wallet was still there with no money in it. The sunglasses case was still there with no glasses. The little boys must have robbed me when I was not looking. It was not the end of the world because I was only out $30 and the lesson learned is invaluable. The class had dinner that night and everyone fell fast asleep.
Day 13 =06/04/11 SAMARA BEACH/ SAN JOSE
ReplyDeleteDay two of being at the beach was an exciting day. It was time for the class to go sea kayaking and snorkeling. There was three one person and three two person kayaks to choose from. I made the correct decision in my book to choose the one person, since everyone in the two person ones seemed to be battling over paddling the whole time. The excursion brought the class to a small island right outside Samara beach. There the class found an amazing coral reef. There were lots of blue and yellow types of fish. I personally liked the large blue starfish. While exiting the water, I caught a glimpse of a rather large sea snake which cause me to blast my way right out of the water. We made our way back to Samara beach by kayak. Once we made it to the shoreline it was time to beach ourselves. This was easier said than done almost everyone flipped their boats, myself not included. It was time to go back to San Jose for our free night and day. A few of use made it out that night for a perfect farewell departing.
Day 14 =06/05/11 FREE DAY IN SAN JOSE
ReplyDeleteThe next day the girls wanted to go shopping as usual. As for me I did not make it out to the stores since I was catching up on some much needed sleep. Everyone packed their bags because they had to leave at three in the morning; in contrast, I was able to sleep in until later in the morning. Dr. Mauricio finished his lectures by saying that there is not a correct method to development. The important thing is to better you understanding of others and try to make the best decision as possible in life.
Day 15 =06/06/11 DEPARTURE FROM SAN JOSE
ReplyDeleteI had an early breakfast and packed my bag. Right before I was supposed to leave there was this oversized spider that would not die. I have up battling him after a wail and just left my hotel room. That’s one of those things that I can gladly live without. I jumped into a taxi to make my connection bus to the airport. Before I was able to leave I had to grab a new shirt because all of my clothing smelled so bad that would make anyone on the airplane half sick. As it ends up, I had to change my flight to Huston Texas since my flight was cancelled. I made it though the customs in record time to catch my fight to Raleigh. I made it back to Raleigh around 11:30pm at night where my dad awaited my arrival. All I could think about was what a trip it had been and that I was happy to be safe and sound back on American soil.
To conclude, there are lots of different things that I learned during my trip to Costa Rica that will prove to be invaluable throughout the rest of my life. I feel strongly that it is important to see what impacts Costa Rica has on the United States of America and vice versa. We are all on the same planet and the choices that each of us makes carries though to everyone.
ReplyDeletehttp://prezi.com/20ovjnyqfivi/sustainability-in-costa-rica/
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