Pura Vida! This is a very common phrase that the inhabitants of Costa Rica use. It has a variety of meanings and can mean whatever you want it to. Before breakfast, I had already heard this several times from the natives of Costa Rica. It was another cool morning at the Las Cruces Research Station, partly because we were in a cloud but also we are in the mountains. Breakfast consisted of eggs, rice and beans, toast, orange juice, and fresh fruit.
After breakfast, everyone relaxed in the common area and prepared for our first stop, a coffee farm. Last night, we watched a documentary called “Birdsong and Coffee” and it centers around the farm that we visited today. In Costa Rica, there are two main ways of farming coffee – through monoculture or polyculture (agroforestry). In farms that practice monoculture, all the trees are cut down and all type of biodiversity are destroyed. This type of plantation is unnatural to the environment because an ecosystem has all types of life and not just one species. Also, coffee is traditionally grown in the shade of trees, so this type of farming is also different than most traditions. In polyculture farms, the farmers primarily use agroforestry in order to create specialized coffee. Agroforestry is the deliberate incorporation of trees and other woody species of plants in types of agriculture.
As we arrived at Roberto’s farm, I instantly thought that this was definitely a unique farm. On the walkway to his house and in the fields, there were plants everywhere and the constant chirping of birds and insects. This farm incorporates polyculture practices that include intercropping and agroforestry. Roberto, the owner of the farm, gave us a tour of his farm and the process in which coffee is made. His farm is the definition of sustainable agriculture. He explained to is how there is no waste. The leftovers go to the pigs and eventually a biodigestor, the trees help to hold the water, a natural spring is the source of all the water, the birds are a natural pest control,e and the leaves are used as a natural fertilizer. At the end of the tour, we got to taste the coffee and have freshly-made sugarcane juice. Many people attempted to describe the taste, but the most unique description was that it tasted like “really, really, really sweet wood.” What that means, I have no idea. It was all fantastic, and it was the first time I somewhat enjoyed coffee (it still will not be part of my daily routine). Roberto and his family were some of the nicest people you will ever meet and graciously opened up their home to us.
We arrived back to the research station with tired bodies and hungry stomachs, but soon everyone’s spirit rose greatly. The cafeteria had made pizza! No rice and beans either! It was so nice to have some good ol’ fashioned pizza. The cooks did somewhat of a Costs Rican twist to the dish, but it tasted like pizzas from Italy. They tasted great and everyone got large portions and some asked for seconds.
After lunch, we had to catch up on our game playing so we set off back to the Wilson House. There, we played “The Clapping Game” and “The Drawing Game.” In “The Clapping Game,” everyone sits in a circle while one person leaves the room. The group in the circle then must decide who will switch the pattern of clapping or motions in secret, and the person who leaves the room has three chances to guess who it is. In “The Drawing Game,” the iPad goes around the circle and people switch from drawing a picture to writing a sentence about the picture. The catch is that you can only see the picture or sentence done by the person next to you. By the end of the game, the original drawing had completely change.
At 1:30, we headed off with Rodo again to perform a study on the Agouti. Each Hogwarts house was given two out of the six quadrants. The Hufflepuff house was not given any quadrants because its only member is Mr. Willard. Gryffindor found five Agouti, Ravenclaw found five Agouti, and, of course, Slytherin found the most with six Agouti. We were able to get up really close to the Agouti and it was pretty funny how they didn’t seem to be that afraid of us.
This is a picture taken from my iPad and was the source of our observations. Also, see http://www.pdsblogs.org/costarica/2013/06/12/midday-agouti-hunting/ to see a video of an Agouti running around.
During the analysis of the experiment, some bat excitement raged through the group. The mammal group ran off to take pictures because they only had found nine mammals at this point (ten different species are needed to complete the project). After several minutes and many pictures, the girls soon discovered that they had been taking pictures of a nut. While this adventure was taking places, everyone was studying and putting the final touches on their projects. Stress was in the air, but soon everyone remembered that the exam was open note and open book.
Then it was time for the inevitable – trying to scrub everything down to get through US Customs. Since we visited multiple farms, all our clothes and shoes must be free of dirt so nothing hazardous enters the US. For some, this took almost an hour, while others just decided to donate the majority of these shoes. Rodo will be dropping our tennis shoes off at a charity that provides clothing to indigenous people when they are visiting the city’s hospitals.
Soon dinner was served, which was made up of pork, broccoli, rice and beans, as well as a type of cake. At dinner, Beatrice, Emmy, and I sat with a professor from the University of Australia. He is a world expert in ecological research and is giving a seminar at an international council in San Jose soon. He had many interesting stories, including his spotting of a jaguar in Brazil. Everyone headed back to the Wilson House after the meal and did final preparations for the final exam.
The exam started around 8:00 and everyone finished in two hours. From a consensus, the exam seemed to go pretty well and everyone was in good spirits after. So many exciting things happened today, another great day in the diverse country of Costa Rica!
This photo was taken yesterday, but it had to be shared.