Wrapping it all Up

Since my last blog, I've done a little bit here and there. We had class/group project work all day on Tuesday then on Wednesday, we presented our projects and took our final exams. The group projects required each group to research a US company and make a proposal to them as far as how they can become sustainable. My group researched the Glad Product Company. It was really interesting to listen to the other presentations and realize how unsustainable companies currently are such as Fruit of the Loom and Proctor and Gamble.
We all celebrated last night by going out to a bar that was always the first stop everynight throughout our trip. It was a blast. A bunch of us ended up going to McDonalds at 1 AM and ordering french fries. Good memories!
Today we woke up early and headed to Poas Volcano. Right when we walked up, the clouds cleared and we saw the caldera plain and clear. It was ironic that it happened because there was a group that had been waiting for 2 hours to see the clouds clear and we saw them clear right as we were walking up. Apparently you can only see the caldera 75% of the times you visit? It was really a pretty amazing sight. After that we went to La Paz waterfall which had a big bird sanctuary type thing, a butterfly house, a snake house, a frog house, and a hike down a bunch of different waterfalls which were all beautiful. It was funny because if we hadn't see any of the common Costa Rica animals/reptiles/insects while we were out on our other hikes, we could have seen all of them at this place somewhere. It was a nice place for close up pictures. We took a long busride back and everybody was sleeping the whole way. We just got back here to Veritas where they are having a party for "Welcoming students from other cultures" aka us. It should be fun. Tomorrow is our last day here in San Jose before we head back to the states. A big group are going bungee jumping in the morning but I'm holding out on that one to do with Jeff (awww). I think everyone sticking around here is going to head downtown for some last minute souvenir shopping and hanging out. I'm excited for the freedom we have tomorrow. I'm also excited to come home and not excited at the same time.
This has been an amazing trip and I feel like I've made so many close friends. It's going to be weird not having the same people around me that I have for the past four weeks. We've all clicked so well it's like we've known each other forever. I think we definately got lucky with this group. I'm definately going to miss them :(
I think I've learned alot being here too. Just trying to adapt to the differences in cultures has been rough and I still haven't completely but its been a good experience. Living with our host family was a learning experience too. I picked up a little spanish throughout the month which is exciting. I don't know if I will ever use it again but its been fun learning at the house. I realized that there are alot of differences between the opinions of Costa Ricans and those of the US in terms of politics. Our host family is from Peru so it may not be the common opinion of the ticos. Last night at dinner, our host father went on a speal about how he doesn't want Obama to be our next president solely because he's black. It caught us all off guard and it also caught him offgaurd when we said that his skin color didn't matter. Apparently in Peru, blacks are greatly looked down upon. He also told us that he likes President Bush because he helped the citizens of Peru when they had terrorist issues. When my roommate Lindsay said that she didn't favor him anymore, he couldn't understand why not. On top of that, when he started talking to Lindsay about her engagement, he went on about all of the things that a wife needs to be to make a marriage work. He said they needed to be loyal, loving, a good mother...then he said they need to be a good lover and sexual. It was very weird/awkward and I was expecting Carmen to interrupt him but she didn't. He went on about how you need to both like to dance with each other. It was all interesting and it made me realize how different cultures really are. Obviously alot of the marriage stuff is true but to be so forward in front of us was surprising. We ended up having our last dinner last night for two hours. We sat and ate and drank white wine and talked about all different things. At the end, Carmen gave us a few recipes that she had made us over the time we were here. I'm really excited to try to make them when I get home!
I think I'm really going to miss being here once I'm back but I'm also ready to be home. I've learned alot and it has been a great experience.

I hope anyone that has read my blog has enjoyed hearing about everything going on during my trip. You pretty much know everything. I hope to see everyone soon!

I'm putting this in here one last time. If you would like to help:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/soh/nattri08/aminneman

TNT

http://pages.teamintraining.org/soh/nattri08/aminneman

Coffee

As displayed in my other blogs, coffee is a very important part of many peoples lives in Costa Rica. I never would have thought that coffee production would be so prevalent.

On our many bus rides around the country, we´ve been able to see the different types of plants being grown and how they are being grown. It has been interesting to notice and learn how coffee growth is different at different alititudes and climate zones. We were able to visit a plantation that requires less work due to the climate conditions which is beneficial to the soils and surrounding environment. We´ve also passed several fields where shade screens were built over the plants to create optimal growth conditions in sunnier climates. In this case, environmental degredation is potentially much more prevalent.

It will be enjoyable to notice more about coffee once we return to the US. I know that I will pay closer attention to the details and be able to explain the differences between organic and nonorganic. Learning about coffee in Costa Rica has been a very beneficial experience.

Tourism

Sea Urchins. Notice how close this picture is...there was no diving involved when taking this picture.
You can see all of the group out there in the water (those little spots are their heads).

We got a little more experiece in the tourism industry this past weekend on our trip to Manzanillo and Puerto Viejo.

What I really want to focus on was our snorkeling trip that we took on Saturday morning. I understand the benefits of bringing income to those who do not have opportunities and how it helps the economny, but I also see the downside of ecotourism. On our trip to snorkel in the Caribbean, I was given the perfect example.

I remember learning about El Niño in eight grade science class and how it was killing the coral reefs. I also learned alot about the subject in my oceanography class Sophomore year. What I found on our trip was that the protection of the reefs wasnt stressed as much as I was expecting. We snorkeled very close the reefs. You could touch them by simply putting your hand down as you were swimming around. Also, when the waves moved you around, you had a good chance of running into the coral like I did when I bumped my knee. It was very suprising to me that we were taken so close to this natural being when its so important to preserve them.

After experiencing the snorkeling trip, it made me realize that ecotourism can be benefical when put into practice correctly. It may bring income to those in need but without their understanding of why the tourists are there, the environment may be destroyed more than sustained.

Bananas

We finally went to a banana plantation!! Not just any plantation, the Chiquita plantation! We spent part of Friday exploring and learning more about banana production and Chiquita as a company. It was a very interesting visit to say the least.

We started the trip by learning about Chiquitas conservation project. They are helping the environment by promoting public knowledge on sustainability and also by planting trees and preserving areas surrounding the plantation. The Project brings in students and groups and gives them lessons on maintaining and preserving the environment.

We were able to ask questions and we learned alot about how Chiquita works hard on sustainable practices and the health of their workers. We learned about the recycling of the bags that they use for protecting the bananas from insects which I mentioned in a prior blog. They also showed us the clothes that workers have to wear to prevent health problems while working. It was interesting that they were so forward about how they protect their workers but didn´t jump too much into the reasons that workers are required to wear the clothes. We actually saw huge signs telling people to not enter into the plantation because of how bad the chemicals are. Not only do they affect the workers and surrounding citizens, but they also can produce runoff that makes its way into to surrounding fields and water supply systems.

Chiquita has the potential for common banana production issues but they also have very good solutions. Chiquitas solution to runoff issues is that they have planted forests surrounding the plantation in an attempt to work as a barrier against the chemicals. They also evacuate surrounding homes during chemical sprays to protect the health of citizens who live nearby. After learning so much about the hazardous affects that banana production has on the environment, I was surprised to see the tactics that Chiquita uses to minimize the risks.

According to my professors, Chiquita is actually alot more sutainable than other plantations. I think that if other companies can curb their objectives towards sustainable growth, then the consequences will not be as large of an impact on the environment in the long run.

Puerto Viejo Weekend

Heidi, Diane, and I on the beach in Manzanillo. It was beutiful.

Out by the water during our bonfire at our resort.

Our destination after we hiked down the beach. A frog...like you see in pictures. ha
At the Chiquita plantation. This lady is putting the stickers on the bananas.
A monkey!! We got to see this one up close !
Laying out and trying to catch some rays. I got burnt during this overcast beach time.
The view from our beautiful resort hotel.

We just got back from another long trip. This time we went to the Caribbean side of the country which was a lot different.

We started off our trip by driving to La Selva Research Station on Thursday. While we were there, we went on two nature hikes and learned more about the rainforest. We saw a lot of poisonous frogs and they were all bright colors (mainly red). We also saw more monkeys and wild pigs. We learned about strangler figs for about the fifth time too. They are trees that grow up and around other trees until they can block sunlight from getting to the main tree, then the main tree dies. Its pretty interesting the first time you hear it!

We left from La Selva on Friday morning then headed to the Chiquita plantation which was an experience. We watched a video on the project they started and got a tour of part of the plantation. You´ll hear more about it in my banana blog. After Chiquita we headed to Puerty Viejo and spent the night there. A bunch of us went out to a club on the beach which was a blast. They played music from the US which was super comforting.

Saturday morning we got up very early and headed out to snorkel. It was alot more shallow in the Caribbean and the coral reefs were very pretty. They weren´t so pretty though after you jam your knee in to them...whoops!

After snorkeling we headed to Manzanillo and settled into our dream resort that we had all been waiting for. It was right on the beach, the bathrooms were nice (not common), there was a nice pool, the food was AMAZING, and the sun was shining. We spent the rest of the day at the hotel. Sunday morning, 4 of us got up really early and went for a 3 mile run. It was my best run yet! We ran a really fast two miles then ran the last part on the beach which is a lot harder than I thought it would be! Either way, it started my day off great. After breakfast we took a hike out to this big lookout point. It was beautifual. Once we got back to the hotel we relaxed during the afternoon because it was raining. It was still very nice to just relax. I tried wine from Chile last night which is supposed to be really good and I agree, it was delicious.

Now we are back in San Jose for the rest of the trip. We have classes tomorrow then group presentations and our final on Wednesday. It seems like it will be a little stressful these first two days but Thursday and Friday should be nice!

Tourism

Our trip to the Osa Peninsula was a perfect example of eco-tourism. We spent the majority of our time (besides the camp) in areas that weren't touched by humans. 

It was apparent from the beginning that the Osa was well kept when we took our first boat ride to our camp. There were very few cars and we were always transported by the same taxis. 

Our first day trip was to the park itself. The only man made thing around was the rangers office. Other than that, there were only untouched beaches and the rainforest. Our guide was able to bring us around the park without harming anything. The only part of our hike that looked unnatural was the path that was created by people simply hiking - no gravel or sand led the way. 

Our snorkeling trip even further displayed how eco-friendly our trip to the Osa was. We took boats again to Cano Island where the only thing there was a small building. We took boats out where we snorkeled. I'm pretty sure the only part of that trip that could hurt the environment was the boat motors. We were able to enjoy ourselves and be entertained by still maintaining the environment and enjoying its beauty. 

I think the trip we are taking to the Caribbean is going to be a lot different. There should be alot more commercial points of interest rather than natural (not including the beach). It should be interesting to contrast.