Costa Rica in practice: the disillusioning begins

Here you go mamasita:


Costa Rica apparently uses more pesticides than most of the world per hectare, probably because there are so may bugs and fast growing weeds here in the tropics. The organics movement here is only 10 years old and is still pretty weak. A forester I talked to told me that there are two regions of the country that produce most of the agriculture. Cartago uses pesticides indiscriminately (including some that are illegal in the US) but the other region is more conscientious. Cartago is supposed to have much higher rates of gastrological cancer than the rest of the country. Shit's fucking people up. Good thing is that they have a semi-functional social safety net which mandates that everyone has health care and receives treatment. Bad thing is they don't have nearly enough medical staff or infrastructure to provide timely/quality care to the entire population (which has tripled in the past 40-50 years). So why not trade some Cuban doctors for coffee or pineapples? Because they disapprove of Castro and like the US too much. In regards to the conservation efforts here, it appears that the specialists are split, half defining conservation as "sustainable development" and the other as "reforestation". The program I'm researching is pretty insignificant as far as I can tell. If you're going to offer monetary incentives for NOT cutting down the forest, they're going to have to offer more than $64/hectare a year. People undervalue clean air and water is everywhere. Unfortunately Costa Rica's pretty poor as countries go, so maybe an incentive based program isn't the best idea. I talked to a guy last night who was arguing that they needed to tap into their off shore oil stores, so they don't go bankrupt. I'm not convinced that they're going to go bankrupt though. The country runs on 90% hydroelectric energy and has a better public transportation system than Atlanta or Los Angeles (in my opinion). But it looks like the only thing country's got going for it is the mysterious lure of the tropical "wild". Although they have only sold carbon credits once to some European nation, I think once the UN okays trading on a regular basis, credits are going to be Costa Rica's saving grace. But because of my preconceived notions of carbon credits (ad presented by Annie Leonardhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA6FSy6EKrM) Im still skeptical of this method.

La finca Tico

This weekend I went to San Pablo en Los Santos to work at an organic farm started by one of my contacts, a woman named Felicia. Two other girls from the States were going up too, they're seen a flyer at UCR (la universidad de costa rica en San Pedro) so we shared a taxi to the bus station in San Jose. We got there at 6:30 because we had been told that there was a bus to Los Santos at 7 and another at 9 and we wanted to get there as early as possible so as to get there with time to work before the rain. When we got the MUSOC station they said the bus was at 9, the earlier one had left at 6. Loaded up with hiking boots, sleeping bags, a map, a slack-line and two and a half hours to kill, we quickly located a park and off we went. However before we found the park we came across an outdoor mercado, that looked much like a farmers market. So of course we took a detour up the street to see what we could find. Mangoes, piñas, bananas, guyabana, platanos, passion fruit, aguacates, queso, jabón... but no park. We bought some fruit and sat under a tree sharing stories and asking the rutine questions like Do you have siblings? Do you know so and so? Do you smoke? 

At 20 minutes to 9 we wandered back to MUSOC and sat in the chatting amiably about the trials of diva cups, as if we'd known each other for years. Suddenly Jillian looked at her watch, "Hey guys it's 9:02, maybe we should go outside." Looking out the window we saw a tall white bus pulling out of the parking lot. Tyran jokes, "That's probably our bus." Out reactions suggest little faith in the punctuality of the buses in Costa Rica (although in my brief experience the buses are quick timely). It took us about 15 seconds and then Tyran jumped up. Jillian yelled, "Run Tyran run!" while I scrambled to gather my straw hat and camo sleeping bag from the floor. We somehow got in front right as it was pulling out onto the main street. The driver looked amused, but let us one. A couple people snickered at us as we puffed and panted and looked for space in the overhead to stow our accessories. 

The bus ride took about 2 hours. And although the seats in this bus we much cushier than the buses we took in and out of jose, I would have preferred being on the latter. The combination of the lack of leg room and the poor infrastructure of the windy rural roads, left both my knees soar and bruised. When we arrived Felicia was waiting for us in a small white Subaru truck. She let us ride in the back up the dirt road to her house. 

Melina, who was living with Felicia and who had been out correspondent thus far, greeted us at the gate. She was the daughter of one of Felicia's good friends, a dancer and yoga instructor, and was, for the time-being helping Felicia with the farm. We had a quick lunch and then went up to the farm to do what work we could before the rain came. It was a 10 minute walk up the mountain from Feli's house. She already made 10 beds and several of them had plants in them, although most of them were dead. We cleared some beds, turned soil, started planting potatoes and started setting up a parameter around the edge of the farm. We were only five but I felt a surge of energy and accomplishment when we put down our shovels. There was still work to do but our work was apparent. Back in the cabin we made tea and danced a bit. Feli confessed that she was a "dance freak" and for a bit we thought of going out dancing. But we were tied from traveling and ended up staying home and talking about gardening and self-sufficiency. I slept inside on the floor with Feli and Melina, and Tyran and Jillian slept outside in a tent they'd brought.

I got up at 6:30 and Felicia was already up making coffee. Meli led us in a gentle yoga session, during which I finally learned the word for knees, rodillas (because she kept telling me it was okay to bend my knees). We ate some papaya and drank coffee and around 8 more people started arriving. Ten to 15, all of which seemed to be friends and family. Melina's mom, Felicia's mom, Felicia's younger son, Ivo and his son, Tomás, who was two and a half. Everything was very relaxed, not rushed. People talking, sitting, munching on fruit, playing with the dogs. Then we gathered in a circle and Felicia talked a little about the farm and what the idea of it was and what she wanted it to be in the future. She was mixing self-sufficiency with community, education with art and music and health. She asked us "Que es la cosa que es nesesario para que la vida existe en el planeta?" What is the thing that is necessary for their to be life on earth? I was thinking the sun, water, oxygen, Amy's mac and cheese. But she said soil, suelo. Without soil nothing would exist. And soil is disappearing. Not without cause. It is being depleted, quickly. By pesticides and my our conventional methods of mass production. This I knew. I also know that almost half of the fresh produce produced in the United States is thrown out before it reaches our plates, and that pesticides that kills insects also harm humans (in smaller ways but also unnecessarily).

Before moving to San Pablo, Felicia worked for the Ministry of Agriculture. That's why I had her contact information, I figured she'd be an in for me with some people higher up in the system so I could do some real investigative work on conservation. Felicia basically started the organics movement in Costa Rica. Although she saw some successes working in government she stopped after 3 years. She told be it was too much, the individual must sacrifice so much. So she was going to live as an example for others. The idea of the farm was not only for her to be self-sufficient and re-cultivate the soil there, it was also a place of learning where people can come and see that it is possible and take back little things to do at home. This is the idea.

And so we sat in a circle and she told us about organics and then we all trudged up the hill and went to work we we'd left off the day before. It's amazing how powerful numbers can be. Our manpower had increased and with it our enthusiasm and energy. We sang and laughed and when Felicia called for lunch some of the people kept working and she had to wait for them to finish their task, they were so immersed in it.

We had another potluck, this time with live music and much more food. Jillian had to leave early but Tyran and I played danced and played with the kids. Tyran got a ride back with a friend and I went back with Ivo and Tomas. Ivo not surprisingly is just a wonderful as his mother (she had told us that he was the son who was more like her in his love of nature). He is a psychologist and works both at a private German high school talking to students about problems they are having and also at the Universidad Latina, teaching a class. He is also studying homeopathy.

I got home at 6, driving was faster than taking the bus. Mary had dinner for me and asked me how my weekend was. She shuddered at my dirt encrusted nails. Catalina came down to keep me company while I ate, since Costa Rica was playing Mexico and so Mary had retired to her room. Some how Catalina and I got around to talking about religion and she said she doesn't think any parent should raise their child without religion, no matter which one. She was talking about about her kids and how they're grown now and aren't interested in church but it's alright with her because she knows that they understand faith and are good honest people. But I wondered where she thought that religion was the only way to attain such morals and values. I feel like I've been having a lot of conversations about God in the past week. Maybe I should have should be doing a theological study instead of an environmental one?

Bed time!

Herédia

It's already weird to think in English, talvez voy a escribir un poco en español y un poco en ingles. Gracias a dios, I found my way to Heredia and back today for my first interview. I had to get up at 6 to be out of the house at 7 to catch a 8 o-clock bus from la Universidad de Costa Rica hasta La Universidad Nacional en Heredia. The trip took about 30 minutes and from there There my interviewee, a forest expert by the name of Daniel Perez picked me up and took me to his house, out of which he works. It turns out he isn't a forester but a researcher who is enlisted by the countries primary conservation and forest management programs to write about the work they're doing and the new programs they're trying. Sooooo although he couldn't answer some of my technical questions about the program I'm researching, he had a ton of prime contacts!

So the work begins. I've also started reading Mountains Beyond Mountains which at moments makes med school very appealing. Paul Farmer is obviously extremely intelligent and focused but his morals and lifestyle are what really attract me.

Went to belly dancing class tonight with Andrea. It was much harder than expected. I will have to practice before next week!

Que tenga buenas noches!  

Huele en Dios

This the what you see when you walk into the front door. The white frame on left is my window.

i Bienvenido a la casita !

La iglesia

Very interesting service. The first hour was singing very corny but catchy songs about letting Christ inside you (songs like that always make me think about sex), but I found myself clapping and singing along until my lower back began to ache. Then the sermon began. The theme was fragrance. The paster told us a story about a 24 week premature baby that survived and told her mother that she could smell god in the rain. That was somewhat inspiring, or at least astonishing that she survived and didn't have any serious disabilities. The pastor said that you smell what you surround yourself with. His wife worked in a chocolate factory factory and she always smelled like chocolate, the smell he now associates with love. He showed a picture of a man standing in a pile of garbage (he was using a powerpoint) to demonstrate what you don't want to smell like. I didn't understand when he was saying it, I thought that huele meant hail, because he kept saying "huele en dios", but it means "smell like god". When I thought back on the image of the man standing in trash I was reminded of the movie Wasteland that documents the lives of Brazilian land fill workers. They all say the same thing, they hate their job, but somebody has to do it. 

I was optimistic when I got there, even eager. It took me asking Andre and Mary afterwards what he was talking about to fully understand and then certain phrases came back to me that disturbed me. The one that really cemented my prio feelings of atheism was when the pastor said, "those who chose to believe smell of eternal life, and those who do not believe smell of death". I wonder if the couple behind me could smell me? 

La llegada

It is really amazing how far one can travel in 3 hours and 39 minutes.

Conservación de la naturaleza es nuestro consolidación. Costa Rica's motto lined the walk way from the airplane to the terminal. It is the first thing you see, if you take the time, even before the signs for baggage claim, "reclamo de equipaje". The terminal was small but open and filled with light from huge windows. The air was warm and filled with soft guitar music from a man in the corner--a stark juxtaposition from the loud, sterile Hartsfield Jackson terminal. The one noticeable consistency was the groups of people in brightly colored T-shirts, most of them were church mission groups.

I stepped outside with my bag and was approached by a man with a white button up shirt and glasses asking me if I need a taxi. Going against advice given to me not to accept the first person I nodded and asked how much to San Pedro. The ride was longer than I had expected, 40 minutes through clogged, pot-whole filled streets. It began to rain half way. We passed the Universidad de Costa Rica with an impressive mosaic mural. I can't wait to explore that area.

We arrived at Mary's house, Mary standing out front looking some what solum. She kissed me hello and I paid the driver 40 USD. Mary chastised me for giving him a three dollar tip. "Nunco das la propina," ella dijo. "Siempre esta incluye." Mary's sister, Gigi (one of the 5 girls and 3 boys in their family) greeted me at the door. She's taking a 5 month long vacation here after quitting her job as a therapist in a youth rehabilitation center in Washington state where she lives with her husband.

Dinner was quite enjoyable. Mary, Gigi, Catalina, a high school spanish teacher from Chicago, who's staying in a room upstairs, and me. We discussed US immigration and then Gigi told us riveting tales of taking knives away from delinquent 15 year old boys.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to church with Mary and then she's going to show me the bus route into San Jose.

It's raining again. It's humid here, but the air is much cooler than in Atlanta. I've got on socks and a sweatshirt.

I'm so excited to be here. Tomorrow I will bring my camera so you can see how beautiful it is. Off to bed now. Buenas noches.