Zarcero

Zarcero is a very small town that our buses stopped at for a lunch break on our long trip to Volcan Arenal and Tabacon. It is known for its shaped bushes and when I first heard about this pit stop I was really not that excited. I just wanted to get to our final destination, but when we arrived in the quaint town I was very glad that we stopped. It was a gorgeous day, as you can see on the left, and had a little over an hour to walk around, get lunch and enjoy the town. First we decided to walk around the park with all of the shaped trees. On the left is a bunch of us in one of the many curved trees. You can only see that there are three behind us, but really there were a lot more! In addition to these there were a lot of different shaped animals and characters. The crazy thing is, they are all trimmed by one man! We were actually lucky enough to see him working while we were there and the picture on the right is of him working hard in the extreme heat. I remember very vividly how hot it was this day and we were in shock that he wasn't dying of the heat but Costa Rican's are so used to the weather by now that it does not even bother them. His has a very small house that was on the other side of the park so his work is very conveniently located to his house!
Behind you can see the pretty church that was in the center of the town. This was probably one of the biggest buildings in the town because when I say town, I mean there were about four blocks. These are not the size of the towns we are used to. So in the end, I was very happy that this town is what got to break up our long trip for us especially since it was not something I was expecting to see.
This is my last post for the BUAD 477 class and I hope you have all enjoyed reading my blog! I just want to say I have really enjoyed posting throughout the semester because it brought back a lot of memories of my Costa Rica trip that I do not always think about regularly!

Titi Canopy Tour

We were scheduled to leave Manuel Antonio around 3pm on the Sunday of our weekend away so my friends and I decided to take advantage of the morning by taking a canopy tour. We scheduled our tour through TITI CANOPY TOURS located in Quepos which is the town next to Manuel Antonio. I can't remember exactly but I am pretty sure we paid about US $40 per person and this included the tour and a snack afterwards. I highly recommend spending the money because the experience of ziplining through the moist tropical forests from platform to platform on the suspension cables is amazing. There was a group of seven of us (shown on the left) and four guides that showed us our way. They harnessed us up and gave us very specific instructions as to where to place our hands on the lines and how to position our feet so we wouldn't get hurt. I was pretty calm while putting the gear on but when it came time to jump off of the first platform I was petrified. The first one was the hardest and then after that I was calmer and they got better and better after each jump.
There were 14 platforms and we got to zipline over a mile. Two guides would go down first so that they were at the next platform in case we had trouble stopping and two guides stayed on top to help hook us up to the line. Once we jumped off we had one hand on the harness and the other on the line and it was up to us to know when to tighten our grip on the line in order to slow down. Before we would jump they would let us know about how many feet before the platform we should stop ourselves but other than that it was up to us to figure out how tight we should grip. This frightened me because I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to stop in time and end up hitting into the platform but I along with everyone else in the group were pretty good about judging our distances. Along with the guides there was also a professional photographer that was snapping away throughout the whole tour. We paid an extra $5 and he sent us a CD with all of the pictures he took while on our tour. The one on the right is one that he took while I was coming in to one of the platforms.
These guides are experts and on the last line they told us that four people from our group could connect with them on their way down and we would be able to go down upside down. I was too scared to do it but four other people in the group did and it was so cool to see them going down with their arms and feet free because they were connected to the guides harnesses. I just wanted to add the picture on the right to show how high we were and the true beauty of what we got to see while going through the forest. If I remember correctly this was one of the longest lines and they just told us to relax and enjoy the sights because it was also one of the last lines.
Anyone who goes to Costa Rica should definitely take a canopy tour. I had a great experience doing it in Manuel Antonio but I have heard that the best place to go is in Monte Verde. Unfortunately we did not visit Monte Verde on our trip but it is definitely on my list of places for my next trip back! I hope you all enjoyed hearing about my tour!

Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio was the second beach that we got to visit on our trip. This excursion was planned through our program so everyone on the trip went together and stayed in two hotels that were next to each other. My group actually lucked out and got the nicer hotel which was called Hotel Playa Espadilla. We had nice rooms, a pool, and a buffet breakfast every morning. We left San Jose on Friday morning (no classes that day!) and arrived to our hotel mid afternoon. In Manuel Antonio there is a public beach and then also the main national park which you have to pay to get into. If you ever go there,i suggest you spend the few dollars it costs to get in because it is well worth it! The beaches are incredible (shown on the left) and there are tons of different hikes you can take which lead you to smaller more secluded beaches and also to different lookouts which are breathtaking! The main beach that the entrance to the park leads you to is the picture shown on the left. This sand is very similar to the sand we are used to seeing. A bunch of my friends and I ventured off to see what other beaches we could find and we came across one that was mostly stones. This beach was significantly smaller than the one above and only had three or four other people on it when we got there. It was mostly small pebbles but as we walked out into the water the stones got bigger and bigger and they were also kind of sharp so we were afraid to go in too far. On our adventures finding these different beaches and lookouts we were greeted by many monkeys. We mostly saw white faced capuchin monkeys which are shown on the right. This picture shows a baby monkey (mono as they are called in Spanish) on his mothers back. This picture was taken without a zoom so you can see how they are not afriad of getting close to people. Sometimes we would get frightened by them if we hadn't seen one and it just popped out of no where. It was very interesting to watch them up close in their own habitat to see how they interacted and what they would eat. In addition to these monkeys, we also heard many howler monkeys at night. The first night we were in our hotel we heard these very loud howling noises but had no idea what they were until the next day when we were told at breakfast what they were. I would never imagine that monkeys could make such loud noises but those were actually the sounds we fell asleep to at night.
Another animal that we saw while on our hike was a sloth. Sloths grow to about the size of a medium-sized dog and have a small head and flat face with a snub nose and beady eyes. This is the picture I took of the one I saw just hanging in a tree pretty high up. Sloths are much easier to capture in pictures compared to monkeys because monkeys are constantly moving. Sloths on the other hand can barely cover a mile in four hours. They spend up to 18 hours daily sleeping curled up with their feet drawn close together and their heads tucked between their forelimbs. This is definitely an animal I will not forget seeing on my trip because it was so out of the ordinary for me. Costa Rica actually has two types of sloths but we only got to see the three toed sloth.
Another very exciting part of this trip to Manuel Antonio was the canopy tour that I went on where I got to go ziplining, but that story is for next week!

Dance Lessons!

This week's post is going to focus on two very popular dances in Costa Rica; merengue and salsa. Throughout the month that we spent there we took three dance lessons and each class was about two hours. During the first class most of us were very hesitant and embarrassed to learn this new dance. There were about thirty of us in a small dance classroom learning from a woman and her sons who were around the same age as us. Being that both the merengue and salsa are with a partner the five lucky guys that were in our group got to stand in front of everyone while all the girls took turns dancing with them.
The first week we learned the merengue which took most of us a few minutes to catch on to. The instructor would walk around and observe all the different partners and if she saw something she did not like she would separate the couple and teach whichever person needed help. This was sometimes funny because some partners got separated a lot more than others but very helpful at the same time. The salsa was a little easier to follow since we had experience with the dancing from the week before. (Click on the links and learn how to merengue and salsa!!!) On the third and final week we reviewed both dances that we learned and as an ending to the lesson our instructors' sons taught us a dance that was very popular in the clubs in Costa Rica called "Pase la manivela". We all joined in and once we learned it we all did the dance every time the song came on in the clubs.
Since we only learned each type of dance for one and a half class periods it is not something that I can remember off of the top of my head. But I feel like if I was dancing with someone who knew the dance well it would all come back to me rather quickly. I'm really glad that we had these lessons because not only were they fun, we also learned a lot from them!

Sarapiqui Riverboat Tour

This riverboat tour adventure was actually one of our first excursions while in Costa Rica. We all got up really early and traveled to the Sarapiqui River, which if I remember correctly was about two hours away, so that we could go on a riverboat tour. It was pouring rain and all 60 of us separated into three different boats with guides who pointed out all of the different animals as we passed them. These guides were obviously very experienced because they could spot all the animals within seconds of the boat pulling up to them. Some of these birds or monkeys were hard for us to even make out after searching for them when we knew where they were. The picture on the left is one of the boats and I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture but it was really raining! Luckily we were all told in advance about the rain and we were prepared. During the time we were there, there was severe flooding in this area so the water was a lot higher than it usually is during January.
The animals we mainly saw on this trip were monkeys, iguanas, birds, and bats. The picture on the right is hard to make out because they are very small and the picture is kind of blurry, but these are in fact bats! We were in shock when our guide told us because they are so small and just look like little dots on the tree.
After the tour we were brought back to the tour center and were served a snack which we could eat while relaxing in one of the many hammocks they had set up all around the area. Another thing they had was a small walking tour set up where we went into a caged in area filled with different types of flowers and butterflies. In addition, we got to check out some poisonous frogs which only the natives who worked there could touch. There is a picture of the green one below. They look so cute and harmless and I would have never imagined them to be poisonous if I wasn't told by the guide!

Cafe Britt

For this week’s post I decided to focus on Costa Rican coffee mainly because it is such an important part of their culture and lifestyle. The typical Costa Rican drinks coffee three to five times a day, and often with very little milk. The main coffee company located in Alajuela is Café Britt. While I was there we went on a tour of the coffee plantation and they showed us the entire process of producing coffee which was very interesting. November to February are their busy months where they hire many workers in order to get all of the cherries picked.
The majority of these workers come from Nicaragua since it is close by and there are many more people there looking for work. Workers receive only around 60 ¢ to $1.50 per basket picked. Each basket weighs around 15 lbs. and a good worker can fill as many as 12 per day. Although it seems incredibly low, these rates are proportional to other agricultural salaries, whose minimum is set by government mandate.
The picture on the left is of our tour guide who showed us the process of making coffee. In the picture he has the basket attached to his waist on a belt so that both hands are free and can be used to pick the coffee.

Below I have broken down what occurs on a coffee plantation during each month.

March
The coffee harvest is finished in Costa Rica but the work has only just begun. During this month, coffee growers prune the trees. Pruning is very important to keep the trees in optimal production conditions.
April
This is the last month of the dry season. This month, year-old seedlings that have grown in greenhouses are planted on the steep hillsides where they will grow for 3 years before they produce their first crop.
May
During May you will see coffee trees in one of the most beautiful stages – flowering. The coffee tree flower appears for several days. The flowers have a sweet aroma that infuses the countryside.
June
In June, the first coffee cherries appear. They are small and green and won’t be ready for harvesting for several more months.
July
Coffee growers apply zinc to the soil. This helps prevent the coffee cherries from dropping off the branches too soon. We also fertilize the soil with potassium and magnesium. Potassium is the key ingredient that “fills” the bean.
August
During August, coffee growers spend time fertilizing the soils on the coffee plantations where trees are lined up in rows 10-12 ft. apart.
September
There is not much done during September because the rainy season is in full swing. Costa Ricans are all beginning to long for their beautiful sunny days.
October
The coffee field is ready for the beginning of the harvest and only needs a tiny bit of sun for the cherries to start to ripen.
November
With the sun’s emergence and the absence of rain throughout most of the month, the otherwise green coffee field starts to show signs of bright red. The first ripening commences and the harvest season begins.
December
The coffee field is buzzing with activity. On the farms, the beans for next year are selected now. Hundreds of women and men come from all around the country to the coffee fields to pick the ripe beans.
January
Costa Rica has the perfect climate and terrain for growing arabica coffee, a balanced combination of rain and sun along with rich volcanic soils. Once picked by hand, ripe red coffee cherries are carefully washed in clean water, processed and sorted for quality.

February
Yes, coffee comes from a fruit! The coffee bean is the seed of the coffee fruit (known as a coffee cherry). The coffee harvest is coming to an end now. Nearly all the fruit has been picked. Once the coffee cherries have been harvested the soils are tested to make sure they have the right acidity and nutrients for planting the new crops.

Above is a smaller version of the many large roasters that they have in their factory. I hope that you all enjoyed this weeks post!

My host family

Before I get into the topic of my post this week I want to answer Kristen's question from last week. She asked if the cities that were wiped out by the large 1968 eruption of volcan arenal rebuilt in the same spot or if they moved somewhere out of reach of the volcano. They actually did rebuild it at the base of the volcano and now it is the town of La Fortuna which is also where the Tabacon resort is located.

Now onto this weeks topic: My host family. I could not have asked for a better host family to live with. Some students were placed in houses where their children had already moved out of the house so they were just living with a set of parents. My roommate and I lived with a family that had four children and one grandson. Our parent's names were Heriberto and Flory. Their oldest son Henry who is 32, is married and no longer living in the house. The children that did live in the house were Yinia who is 29, Dayan who is 22, Maria Fernanda who is 16 and baby Jonathan who was four months when I was living there and is now almost a year old. Jonathan is Maria Fernanda's son and although many people who I tell think that having a baby when you are 15 is normal in Costa Rica, it is not. The family and community were very upset that she had a baby so young. She needed to take time off of school (8th grade) because of the pregnancy and when I was leaving the country in the beginning of February of last year she was just about to start 8th grade again now that the baby was a little bit older. Maria Fernanda took care of the baby 24/7 while she was home, and when she went back to school my host mom was going to take care of him. Pictured above from left to right is Heriberto, Maria (16), Flory, Dayan(22), Jonathan (4 mths), and me. To the left is me holding baby Jonathan!

My host father was a mechanic so he would be up and out early in the morning and then be home for the day around 4:30 or 5 o'clock. My host mother was a housewife and she cooked and cleaned and took care of the baby when Maria was not around. She cooked breakfast and dinner for us every day. Usually in the morning it was bread and fruit and for dinner she had a variety of different meals that she cooked. During the month I was there, she only served the same meal twice. She always found different ways to prepare the meals and this allowed me to try many different styles of food that they eat in Costa Rica. Yinia worked in the school system there as a teacher and Dayan was going to college to also become a teacher. She worked during the day and then went to night classes at a school in San Jose.

The house they lived was very nice. My roommate and I stayed in part of the upstairs and we each had our own room and a bathroom to share. The rest of the family lived on the bottom floor. Each of the girls had their own room and Jonathan shared with Maria. Living with a host family was one of the best experiences I had while staying in Costa Rica. They taught me a lot about their culture and customs and it also helped me out a lot with my spanish since no one in the family spoke a word of English! I was constantly thinking about how to say things and learning new vocabulary from them so this helped me a lot! I hope you all enjoyed reading about the family that I spent a month with.